


Phone a Friend

by yagirlcheesely



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Mentions of Blood, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:28:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 36,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24657613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yagirlcheesely/pseuds/yagirlcheesely
Summary: When Gwen discovers that David is missing, she doesn't know what to do. All she knows is that she can't do everything by herself, and Cameron Campbell is useless. And as for Quartermaster? It's Quartermaster. Seeing no other option, Gwen dials up an old friend. Unable to abandon a friend in need, Camille comes to Camp Campbell despite the hatred she holds for the camp's founder. The reason of which, Gwen is still in the dark of.Join Camille as she becomes Camp Campbell's newest addition. She's going to need all the help she can get with these crazy campers. Not to mention a certain camper doing his best to drive her insane while trying to discover everything he can about her.-----------------------------------------------------------------------This story was inspired by episode twelve of season four "The Forest". There is currently no romance in the story, but may change along the way. Rating may change in the future as well.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 32





	1. A Call for Help

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camille always enjoyed her nightly talks with Gwen about the camp she worked at. Her stories were always so wild and outrageous with seemingly only shreds of truth to them. After they say goodnight, they both go to bed to prepare for what the next day has in store for them. Camille was expecting a normal day until she realizes she's got multiple missed calls. All of which are from Gwen.

“Holy shit, I did not see that coming!”

_ “You and me both, Sister.” _

“You have to tell me what happened next. The suspense is killing me!”

_ “Honestly, everything after that is a blur. I don’t even remember making it back to the camp.” _

“That is so lame! Well, did anything happen after you guys got back?”

_ “Actually … no. Nothing else went off the rails after that.” _

“Awww, that’s no fun. Well-”

The conversation was interrupted by the sound of a clock as it began to chime. A young brunette leaned away from her phone as she glanced to the table at her side to look at the fussy clock. Her stormy grey eyes widened as she realized what time it was before the twelfth chime sounded. She pulled the phone back to the side of her face only to hear laughter.

_ “You still have that annoying ass clock? Camille, Sweetie, throw it in the trash!” _

“I’ll have you know that I like it. It’s not so annoying when you don’t sleep in the same room as it.”

_ “You mean like what you made me go through in college?” _

“Gwen, you only suffered for a week.”

_ “I still hear it in my dreams.” _

Camille couldn’t keep from laughing at that. She clutched at her stomach with her free hand, her abdomen feeling sore from the on and off laughter. On the other line, she could hear Gwen talking, but couldn’t quite make out what the woman was saying. Gasping for breath, she returned her phone to its original position near her ear. Between her slowing laughter and calming breaths, she managed to spit out an apology.

_ “Nah, it’s fine. Tomorrow night?” _

“Tomorrow night.”

With the call over, Camille pushes herself up off her armchair. After temporarily pocketing her phone, she stretches her arms above her head, leaning back until she hears a distinct pop. Running her hand through her hair, she trudged her way to her bedroom. There was a long day in store for her tomorrow. To make matters worse, her parents had insisted on meeting her for lunch. As much as she loved and missed them, she wasn’t looking forward to the inevitable conversation about her career choice. Camille was happy being a nature photographer, but they wanted her to take over the family business.

As she settled into her bed, she stared up at the ceiling above her. A sigh slipped out as she closed her eyes.

“At least I don’t have to do anything else tomorrow.”

* * *

With a full eight hours of sleep, Camille was feeling rested. She didn’t feel quite ready to see her parents yet. Even a refreshing shower, and a hot cup of coffee wasn’t doing the job of putting her anxiety at ease. Despite her countless efforts, her parents just didn’t seem to understand her point of view. It had gotten to the point where she felt as though she was only wasting her breath. Wrapped in a towel, coffee and phone in hand, she took a seat in her living room.

“I’ve only got,” she muttered, glancing down at her phone, “two more hours until I’m supposed to meet them. Great.”

Camille ran her hand through her still damp curls, pulling them away from clinging to her back. Looking back at her phone, she noticed that she had more notifications than usual. Raising a brow, she noticed that she had multiple missed calls in the last thirty minutes. And they were all from … Gwen? Her eyebrows knitted together as she began to feel concerned. Throughout their years of friendship, Gwen wasn’t one to call without texting first. Her best friend didn’t even like talking on the phone. They only talked on the phone for their nightly talks only because of how long Gwen’s stories got.

Not wanting to waste another second, Camille started calling Gwen back. Setting her mug down on the table, she got up and walked to her bedroom while the phone rang. The phone continued to ring as she approached her closet. She switched it over to speakerphone. Quickly, she pulled on a pair of old jeans and a white tank top. Her phone continued to ring. Frowning, she ended the call, immediately calling Gwen for the second time. All the possibilities of what happened began to run through her mind. Was she hurt? Was someone else hurt?

Camille grabbed some socks and her boots. She sat on the edge of her bed to put them on, phone wedged between her head and shoulder. Still ringing. Still no answer. This time, it went to voicemail. Growling in frustration, she angrily tied her boots before standing. Phone back in hand, she went to call for the third time, but she started to receive a call before she could. Seeing the name on screen, she answered after the first ring. However, Gwen started talking before she could get a word out.

_ “Oh my god, Camille! I-” _

Gwen’s voice cut out for a moment, and Camille could hear a lot of noise in the background. It sounded like mostly yelling. Maybe some crying? She wasn’t able to think about it for long before Gwen started talking again.

_ “Camille! I need your help! David is missing, and I cannot do this by myself!” _

Wait. David? That was the name of the other counselor that Gwen worked with. He was missing? Camille didn’t know much of the man, but Gwen told her that he loved the camp they worked at. If that were true he wouldn’t just leave. That, and she’d gathered that he wasn’t the type of person that would just abandon their coworker.

_ “Please, Camille. I need someone to help me. Cameron Campbell is absolutely useless!” _

Camille had been leaving her bedroom when she heard that name come from Gwen’s mouth. She froze in her tracks. Automatically her brain began trying to put together the pieces as to why Gwen would know him. There was only one conclusion that she was able to come to that actually made sense.

“Gwen, do you work at Camp Campbell?”

They both went silent. The only sound that could be heard was whatever chaos was going on in the background on Gwen’s end of the line. She could hear her best friend sigh.

_ “Yes, Cam, I work at Camp Campbell, and right now I-Nurf, put down the knife! Listen, I really need some help with these fucking gremlins.” _

“Hang on, Gwen! I’m coming!”

Camille rushed to gather her keys and run out the door. Before she ended the call to access her GPS, she heard something else that made her quicken her pace.

_ “Quartermaster, why is the mess hall on fire?!” _


	2. Horribly Unprepared

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On the long drive to Camp Campbell, Camille realizes she might need a thing or two in case someone at the camp is hurt. With nothing else for miles, she stops at the small town, Sleepy Peak. The locals seem nice enough, although the stores themselves raise some questions. She arrives to the camp thinking herself prepared. Oh, how wrong she is.

Scenarios ran through Camille’s mind in rapid succession as she made the hour drive to Sleepy Peak. She was about to just drive on through the small town when a thought occurred to her. What if someone was hurt? What if multiple people were hurt? Based on the small snippets she’d gotten from the phone call with Gwen, a building was on fire, and one of the children was running around with a knife. Hastily, she parked her car on the side of the road outside of what looked to be a boutique.

Glancing around, she could only spot a handful of actual stores. Actually, maybe using “handful” was being generous. Outside of the aptly named bar, and obvious adult entertainment, there were only about four actual storefronts. Immediately, the small electronics shop, and the neighboring boutique could be ruled out. That only left a hardware store and a trading post. Seeing two men sitting on the porch front of the trading post, Camille stepped out of her car after shutting off the ignition.

Out of the two older men, only one of them seemed to notice her.

“Ain’t seen you ‘round before, ‘lil lady. Small town, Sleepy Peak.”

“What did’ja say, Earl?”

“We gots a newcomer, Hank. You got yer ears on or what?”

“What?”

Camille felt a little bad chuckling at their small exchange, but then realized this was likely going to be the highlight of her day. She didn’t know what was waiting for her at Camp Campbell. A small distraction from the growing sense of impending doom was very welcomed. However, she knew that she needed to quickly get what she needed and hurry to the camp. Oh, she could almost hear Gwen yelling at her to “hurry the hell up”.

“Earl, is it? You’re right, I’m not from around here. I’m out here to help a friend, but I need to get a couple things before I can head out. Do you know where I can get a first aid kit in this town? Or basic medical supplies in general?”

Due to having already narrowed down the options due to the process of elimination, she’d already known it would be one of two stores. As nice as it would’ve been for Earl to gesture at the trading post he and Hank were sitting in front of, he kindly directed her to the hardware store. He told her that she would find everything she needed there, and maybe some more. Thanking both the men for their time, despite one of them not doing anything, she headed in the direction of the hardware store.

“Atlas Hardware Store? That’s an interesting name. Would’ve been funnier if it had been named “The Only Hardware Store” to match the bar.”

Not bothering to read the signage on the windows, something that would’ve softened the impact of the hodgepodge of merchandise in the store, she stepped inside and immediately felt overwhelmed. There appeared to be a little bit of, well, everything on the shelves. Although, there was a disturbing amount of manure and manure accessories. Before today she’d never even known that there was such a thing as manure accessories. “You learn something new everyday,” she muttered to herself, eyeing the multiple rows of shelves warily.

Fortunately for her, or at least she hoped, the checkout counter was only several feet away from the entrance at the front of the store. She walked over to find a middle aged man that looked like he’d rather be anyone else as he read a book. It reminded her of someone else she knew. She smiled at the man, glancing down at his name tag only to find it to be … blank. Not one to be deterred, she asked him where she could find the first aid kits. He didn’t even look up from what he was reading when he answered her.

“Aisle six, “Care and Kids”. They’re on the end cap by the gnomes.”

Deciding it was best not to question any of that, Camille thanked him before heading off to where he’d instructed her. As she found the aisle, she couldn’t help but look at the shelves. The “kids” side of the aisle didn’t look much out of the ordinary. Misspelled sign aside. The “care” side seemed to be the exact opposite of what it was supposed to be, however. Face masks that screamed “serial killer”? Axes? A chainsaw with no guard on the blades? What the hell are “face nails”, and how are they at all safe? Her eyes grew wide after she read the label on a bag on the bottom shelf. Why would a hardware store sell lye that was labeled as “body disposal grade”?

“Nope, nope. I changed my mind. I don’t want to know.”

Not wanting to spend anymore time in the hardware store that felt like it was pulled right out of an episode of “The Twilight Zone”, Camille rushed to the end of the aisle and looked at the end cap. She sighed in relief as there were actual first aid kits located there. Unsure of what was going to greet her at the camp, she decided to be on the safe side. So, with three survival grade first aid kits in her arms, she hobbled back over to the checkout counter. She tried to keep from slamming them down, but they had been heavier than she’d anticipated.

Sheepish, she smiled apologetically after startling the man. He rang her out with surprising speed. Then again, if his demeanor was anything to go by, he wanted her out of the store as quickly as possible. First aid kits in hand, she thanked him before rushing back out to her car. She chucked the kits into the passenger side seat. Breathing in deeply, she hit the road and continued on to the camp.

As she drove down the road, she remained unaware that her phone sat in the cupholder with several missed calls from her parents.

* * *

Another hour and a half of driving later, mostly due to accidentally driving past the giant billboard with Cameron Campbell’s face plastered on it, Camille finally pulled up to the camp. She had to do a double take at the sign that marked the entrance to the camp. Out of the car, she slung one of the kits straps over her shoulder. Holding the other two, one in each hand, she moved at a brisk pace to the center of the camp. The mess hall was in clear view despite its distance from the entrance. At least it wasn’t on fire anymore.

Getting closer, she noticed what looked to be someone tied to a flagpole. Upon closer inspection she realized that it was Gwen. Picking up the pace, Camille rushed over to her best friend. She immediately began to fuss over the woman, asking if she was alright. However, she didn’t receive much of a response as she practically had her face buried in a tablet. Sighing for what felt like the seventh time that day, Camille pulled out her knife and began to cut Gwen down. Being absorbed by whatever she was watching, Gwen didn’t realize the ropes were loosening until she felt herself free-falling. The tablet hit the ground first, with Gwen’s face soon joining it in the dirt.

“Who the fuck-”

Gwen’s voice died on her lips as she looked up at Camille, who was looking down on her with a smirk. Free from the hypnotizing powers of what Camille had assumed to be trash tv, Gwen jumped to her feet. Before Camille could say anything, she felt herself being roughly grabbed by the shoulders and shaken.

“What the fuck took so long, Cammie?! In the time it took you to get here, we put the fire out, Nikki corralled a swarm of bees and sicked them on Space Kid, and Quartermaster got dragged off by squirrels!”

With the shaking stopped, she raised her finger to say something, but her mouth just opened and closed like a fish. She was at a loss for words. Camille blinked as she tried to come to terms with everything that Gwen had just unloaded on her. Up until now she’d thought that the stories that her friend had told her nightly had been heavily embellished. Apparently, they’d all been pretty factual. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that her impending sense of doom she’d tried to ignore had been warranted.

“Fuck.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As far as I'm aware, the old men that sit in rocking chairs outside the Trading Post don't have names. So, they're now Earl and Hank.


	3. The Catch with Compassion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gwen formulates a plan for them to corral the campers. Split up. Camille isn't happy with it, but goes along anyway. Fortunately, she doesn't struggle much gathering children, but then again, she doesn't have to wrangle the more troublesome kids.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unlike the intro and chapter one, this chapter has not been beta read. However, I have elected to say "fuck it" and put it up.

Regret was a relatively foreign feeling for Camille. There wasn’t much in her life that she regretted. She was a woman that lived in the moment, and understood that the past can’t be changed. There was no sense in lingering on things you no longer had control of. Although, right now she was feeling a strong regret for not taking Gwen’s stories seriously. Bits and pieces flashed through her mind.

Camille couldn’t think about them for long. However, Gwen telling her about Nurf stabbing David twice, once in each hand, continued to echo. Shaking her head, she looked Gwen directly in the eye. She placed her hands over Gwen’s, removing them from her shoulders. Smiling, she gave Gwen’s hands a firm but gentle squeeze.

“You know these kids better than me. What’s the plan?”

“Step one, we get you a shirt.”

* * *

Camille hadn’t wanted to split up, or “divide and conquer” as Gwen put it. As she’d already stated, Gwen had the most experience with these kids. Which is why, despite Camille’s opposition, Gwen had set her sights on the four most troublesome of the campers. Max, Nikki, Neil, and Nurf. That left her the other six. Now, according to Gwen the other six were almost harmless. Almost. She couldn’t help but focus on that one word.

“Come on, Cammie. They’re kids, and you’re an adult. Sure, there may be six of them and only,” she stopped in her tracks and looked around, “one of you.”

A stinging sensation erupted on her cheek as she slapped herself. She had to pull herself together. These kids may be bundles of pure chaotic energy, but they were still kids. This was a challenge, and Camille never backed down from a challenge. Picking her pace back up, she kept going until she saw the miniature camps in the distance. Getting closer, she could hear an argument. Squinting, she could make out that one of the kids had on a blue cape.

“There’s two campers that wear capes, but only one of them is blue. If that’s Nerris, then she must be arguing with Harrison,” she said, standing back with her hands on her hips. Gwen had told her about how the two “magic kids” fought with one another daily. Her fingers gripped her chin as she thought about what to do. Sure, she could just run up and grab them. She was certainly strong and fast enough to do it. Then again, she didn’t want to frighten them.

Seeing no other option, Camille calmly walked up to them. She called out to them as she got closer, not wanting to make it look like she appeared from nowhere. Their fighting stopped instantly upon hearing a new and unfamiliar voice. Camille waved at them with what she hoped was a warm smile. Now close enough, she was able to make out the fake elf ears on one and small top hat on the other. Her hunch had been right.

“My name is Camille. Gwen called me to help out, and I couldn’t help but hear you guys fighting. I’d be happy to help. That is, if you guys want.”

Harrison and Nerris looked at one another before looking back at Camille. They turned so that they were facing her and began to try and talk over one another. Camille wanted to smirk, or even chuckle, but she’d kept it inside. Having a roommate in college that was majoring in psychology came in handy during times like this. By giving them a choice, it made them more willing to talk about it. That, and they were both desperate to be declared in the right.

Seeing that this might take a while, Camille lowered herself to sit on the ground. She gently pat the ground in front of her for them to join her. The smile on her face shrank as she relaxed some.

“Okay, let’s try this again. Harrison, why don’t you go first?”

* * *

Being forced to speak one at a time, with no interruptions, allowed the two of them to calm down. They were both still upset by the time they finished, but they weren’t yelling anymore. Camille wasn’t surprised as to what they had been fighting about. It was the same thing that, according to Gwen, they always fought about. Who’s magic was real, or just plain better.

“Wow, both of your sides are very compelling. I really can’t just pick one.” She brought a finger to her chin as she pretended to think, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back. Camille even made a humming noise to top off her act. Unbeknownst to her, the two kids leaned forward, eagerly awaiting her conclusion. Her arms crossed as she sighed, shaking her head. Opening her eyes, she looked at the two of them.

“I guess I can’t make a decision unless I get to actually experience it for myself. Wait, that’s it!”

Harrison and Nerris jumped from her sudden outburst. They looked at one another before asking what it was that she knew. Smiling triumphantly, Camille raised a finger in the air as she looked at them. “Harrison, you can show me your magic. Although, I won’t be able to enjoy it if I’m participating.”

“Oh, Nerris! What if you were my assistant?”

“Are you okay with that, Nerris?”

“I guess so.”

“Now, I would love for Nerris the Cute to be my Dungeon Master, but,” she paused and looked at the two of them with a small frown, “a party of one isn’t much of a party.”

“Oh, oh, Harrison! You can be a party member!”

“Well, since you’re being my assistant, it’s only fair.”

Camille clapped her hands together and bounced in her seat. She smiled at the two kids before her. Despite only knowing about them secondhand from Gwen, she felt proud at the conclusions that they had come to themselves.

“This is going to be so fun! Oh, but we need to find the other campers first.”

“Well, we can help with that!”

“Yeah! I have a detection spell that would be perfect!”

* * *

With help from Nerris and Harrison, Camille was able to locate Dolph and Preston with ease. Unfortunately, she had to give up her phone to Preston so that he could peruse the musical soundtracks she had downloaded. As for Dolph? Well, all she had to do was hold him because his legs had gotten tired. That only left two more campers for her to hunt down. Ered and Space Kid. None of the kids had seen Space Kid since they were all in the mess hall before it was set on fire. On the other hand, Ered was usually hanging out at her half pipe, but Camille hadn’t seen her there earlier. That meant that she could be anywhere.

“Why don’t we head back to the mess hall? You guys are probably hungry, right?”

As if on cue, she heard four stomachs growl in unison. She looked at the four kids, all looking a bit embarrassed. Just as she opened her mouth to say something, her own stomach growled, even louder than theirs had. Right, she hadn’t had time to eat anything. All she had was half a cup of coffee before coming out here. It was well past lunch now, and-Wait. Lunch?

“Preston, Sweetie, can I have my phone back, please?”

With her phone back in her possession, she looked at her recent calls. There were several missed calls from her parents, and a few voicemails to match. Dolph noticed the nervous look on her face. He asked if she was alright, but she lied and said that she was fine. Pocketing her phone, she said that they were going to all be heading back to the mess hall. When they reached the mess hall, Camille noticed a man coming out of the tree-line. Upon noticing the literal hook he had for one hand, she grew curious as well as concerned.

“That’s just Quartermaster,” Nerris informed.

“I’ll, uh, keep that in mind. Thank you, Nerris.”

Camille put Dolph back on his own feet, and instructed all four of them to go inside. Once they were in the mess hall, she turned to Quartermaster and gave a wave. She took a step toward him, and held her hand out while introducing herself.

“Quartermaster, right? I’m Camille, a friend of Gwen’s.”

The way that he stared at her face, glancing down at her hand, was a little unnerving. Slowly, she retracted her hand. Biting her lip, she gestured to the mess hall behind her, letting him know that the kids were hungry. She could hear him mumble something in response, unable to really understand what he’d said. Then, he just walked around her, entering the mess hall.

“Well, that was uncomfortable.”

* * *

Turns out, Space Kid hadn’t left the mess hall since that morning. Even when it had been on fire he’d remained inside. Ered had returned to the mess hall after the fire was put out, and had been hanging out there since. This day was continually raising more and more questions but not answering any of them. Why had the mess hall been on fire? Why did Space Kid stay inside a building that was on fire? Where was Cameron Campbell, and why wasn’t he doing anything to help? Where was David, and was he alright?

After making sure the six kids she’d been charged with were alright and eating, Camille stepped outside of the mess hall. Sighing, she leaned against the wall to the side of the entrance. She pulled her phone back out. The amount of missed calls and voicemails intimidated her. Not only had she missed lunch with her parents, she hadn’t even told them she wasn’t going to be able to make it. They’d showed up and waited. For how long, she didn’t know. At this point they were probably just worried for her safety. Guilty, she began to call them back. They picked up after the third ring.

_ “Oh my goodness, Camille, Sweetie, are you alright?” _

“Hi, Mom. I’m sorry I missed lunch. One of my friends had an emergency, and I was the only one she had to turn to.”

_ “Sweetie, why didn’t you call us? We would’ve understood.” _

“I know, Mom, but I didn’t really have time. Something was … on fire.”

_ “Oh my-Camille! Are you alright?” _

“Yes, Mom, I’m fine. I promise. The fire was out by the time I got there, but there were other things to take care of.”

_ “Alright, Sweetie. When will we be able to see you again?” _

Camille opened her mouth to respond, but she didn’t know how to answer that. Sighing, she closed her mouth. She’d only agreed to see them today just due to how frequently they’d pestered her about missing their daughter.

“I don’t really know, Mom. I’m sorry.”

_ “That’s alright, Dear. Your father and I miss you.” _

“I know, Mom. I know.”

Not far from where Camille stood, she could hear Gwen yelling. From what she was able to make out, a lot of it was curses.

“Look, Mom, I’ve got to go. Tell Dad I love him.”

_ “Oh, he knows. Love you, Sweetie.” _

“Love you, too, Mom.”

Just as the call ended, Gwen practically burst out from the trees dragging two children behind her while two more just walked. One of the children being dragged was making what seemed to be growling sounds, while the other was shouting threats with curses sprinkled in like confetti. Chuckling nervously, she waved over to Gwen along with the four other children. Gwen looked at her and smiled in relief. Wanting to make things easier on her friend. Camille opened the mess hall doors. Gwen took this as an opportunity to literally throw the kids she’d been dragging into the building. After entering with the other two in tow, Camille went in herself.

“Gwen, who the fuck is she? Better not be another fucking cultist.”

“She’s not a cultist, you little shit. This is my best friend, Camille.”

“Holy shit, Gwen. You actually have friends? I didn’t think anyone other than David could stand to be around you that long.”

“You must be Max,” Camille said, not letting the little boy pick on her friend any longer.

“Yeah. Welcome to camp.”

That didn’t feel welcoming at all.

* * *

After the children were fed, she and Gwen were able to keep them occupied with arts and crafts until night time. They ate dinner and then headed to their tents for bed. Camille walked with Gwen back to the counselors cabin. The two of them sat down on Gwen’s bed. Exhausted, Camille ran her fingers through her hair. With everything she’d been through today, it had knotted itself in some places. Hearing Gwen sigh, she turned and looked at her friend.

“Gwen, what are you going to do? David hasn’t returned, and we don’t know … if he will.”

“Oh god-no. Camille, no. I can’t-I can’t do this by myself. I can’t-”

Gwen’s speech devolved into incoherent muttering. She was holding herself and rocking in place, shaking her head. She could hear the sniffling start. Camille hadn’t seen her like this since exams week in their last year. Not wanting to scare her too much, she carefully put her hands on Gwen’s shoulders, pulling the woman to her. Once her friend was close enough, she wrapped her arms around her in a hug.

“You don’t have to do this alone, Gwen.”

“Cammie, wha-what do you mean?”

“I’ll stay as long as you need me to. Besides, I’ve got at least two months of vacation time that work has been hounding on me to use.”

“Even after you saw what I deal with every single day, you want to stay?”

“What can I say? I love a good challenge. Just need to get a few things from home and come back in the morning.”

“You’re the best, Cammie, but what are we going to do tomorrow? David had the plans for the rest of the week, and I can’t find them anywhere.”

“We can probably kill two birds with one stone tomorrow. Do you have any pictures of David?”

Gwen looked at the memories board hanging on the wall on David’s side of the cabin, but then she had a better idea. She’d had to help David take some pictures for his Tinder account. Scrolling through her photo gallery, she came across one that she’d forgotten to delete. Selecting it, she texted it to Camille.

“Alright, I just sent you one. Why?”

“You’ll see tomorrow.”

* * *

The drive home was a blur. Camille couldn’t even remember the elevator ride up, or unlocking her door. She wasn’t snapped out of her trance like state until she heard her clock chime eleven times. Blinking, she found herself sitting in her chair in the living room. Rubbing her eyes, she pushed herself up and walked into her bedroom. Sitting down on her bed, she pulled her laptop off the bedside table and opened it. After connecting her phone to the computer, she uploaded the photo that Gwen had sent her. Several minutes later, she could hear her printer working hard.

Struggling to stay awake, she unplugged her phone. Looking through her contacts, she started a phone call. Holding the phone to her ear, she fought to stay awake. Several rings later, someone answered. The voice on the other end sounded out of it, as if they’d just been woken up by her call.

“Hey, Derek, I’m going to need to use those vacation days now.”

_ “Camille? It’s-God, what time is it?” _

“It’s late, Derek. That’s what time it is. Late.”

_ “Can’t this wait till tomorrow? Or would it be later today?” _

“Listen, I need to use my vacation time, Derek. Will you put it in for me?”

_ “Alright, fine. Just … don’t call me this late again, ok? What do you even need it for?” _

“Mistakes have been made, Derek. Mistakes have been made.”


	4. Too Early and Too Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camille makes it back out to Camp Campbell again. This time, she's packed her things to stay. Unfortunately, her morning is a lot rougher than she had anticipated.

The sun wasn’t up. It hadn’t even started peaking over the horizon. Yet here Camille was, driving down the road at five o’clock in the morning. She had only woken up an hour ago, and boy did she feel it. One hot cup of coffee and a second to go wasn’t doing her any favors. Caffeine wasn’t as useful to her as it was Gwen. Heck, the five minute shower with scalding water she had started her day with did more to wake her up than hot, sugared bean juice ever would.

Driving in the dark had never been enjoyable for Camille. Especially when heading to the middle of nowhere like she was now. As much as she loved the wilderness, she hated the long stretches of road she had to drive on to get there just as much. “She’ll be comin’ round the mountain as she comes,” she sang to herself to fill the silence.

Not only was there not much worth listening to on the radio this early in the day, but she couldn’t even get a signal if she’d wanted to.

More and more trees passed on by. They seemed to never end out here, stretching out as far as her eyes could see. Which, in the dark, wasn’t very far. With the sun shining, the amount of trees was a beautiful sight. Some would even say it was relaxing to watch them go by. But at night it felt different. With nothing but a long stretch of road ahead of her, no other cars in sight, and a hundred trees that all looked the same, Camille felt that she might as well have been going in a circle.

For a moment she closed her eyes and breathed in deeply before returning her sights to the infinite feeling road ahead.

“Gwen owes me for this. She owes me big time.”

* * *

Camille could feel her eyes stinging from lack of sleep. She removed one hand from the wheel to rub at one of them. Reaching down, she picked up her travel mug from the cupholder and took a sip of her coffee. After putting it back down, she sighed, glancing up at her rear view mirror. The view in the back was the same as the view in the front. Road and trees still going on forever, and not another living soul in sight. Her thoughts drifted from the road to the stack of papers sitting in her passenger seat. From her current angle, she could see the top without much effort. A wide smile and sparkling eyes looked back at her.

Shaking her head, she turned and looked back to the road. Only, there was now something there that hadn’t been before. Camille’s eyes widened as she froze. Coming to her senses, she cut the wheel, slamming on the brakes in addition out of reflex. Eyes shut tightly, her face nearly collided with the steering wheel as she jerked forward. Once stopped, her body slammed back into the seat. With short, rapid breaths, she looked around the road, realizing that she’d been turned around. Before it disappeared into the tree-line, Camille caught sight of deer as it ran off.

A wave of nausea hit her as she realized what had just almost happened. For one, she’d almost hit a deer. Despite how sad she would’ve felt about that if it had happened, it wasn’t as bad as the other thing. She was moments away from having an accident. Out here, with no one else around. The possibility of her having been stuck out here for hours without help was so high that it scared her. Her thoughts brought her back to the stack of papers, now scattered in the floorboard. Had something like this happened to David? Was he somewhere out there, alone and hurt? Was he … still alive?

Tearing her eyes from his picture, she ripped her cup out from its holder and shoved her door open. Quickly, she poured the rest of her coffee out on the road, slamming her door shut when she was done. After tossing the now empty cup into the back seat, she turned the car around and set off back in the right direction. This time, not taking her eyes off the road for even a second.

* * *

Fifteen minutes had passed since Camille parked her car beside the mess hall. Ever since she’d put it in park, she’d been taking rapid, shallow breaths. Her grip on the steering wheel was painfully tight as she held on in an effort to ground herself. Eyes clenched shut, she took in deep breaths through her nose. If her heart rate didn’t slow down, she was going to have a heart attack right then and there. Opening her eyes, Camille rolled down her window, leaning out to gaze up at the stars. Everything finally felt like it was settling.

“Didn’t think you was coming back,” came a gruff voice from out of nowhere.

Unable to hold it in, she screamed, frightening some of the local wildlife. Clutching her chest, Camille gasped for air. She locked eyes with Quartermaster. He seemed to be pleased about how badly he had scared her. As much as she wanted to be angry, she couldn’t find the energy for it. Instead, she took a deep breath before frowning up at the man.

“I take over cooking half of the meals each day, which will give you more free time, and you never scare me like that again. Savvy?”

“You have chosen to bargain with the man that knows no fear. We have an accord. I shall have a contract bound in blood by the light of the next moon.”

There had been many times Camille had read about a character being described as opening and closing their mouth repetitively. Similar to a fish. Well, now she was living that. Her brain felt like what an error message looked like as she struggled to form some sort of response. How does one respond to whatever that was? Not a single thing that had come out of his mouth had any resemblance to normal. Then again, did anything resemble normal at Camp Campbell?

After coughing to clear her throat, she finally managed to sputter something out.

“You, uh, you do that. I’ll handle breakfast today.”

Quartermaster only nodded before walking away. Once she saw his form disappear among the trees, she let out a breath she hadn’t been aware she was holding. The whole interaction had felt like her second near-death experience for the day. Yet, the sun still hadn’t risen. All the children were still asleep. Her day had, quite literally, barely even started.

“Maybe Gwen will share her meds if I ask nicely.”

* * *

Time seemed to go by faster once she was in the mess hall kitchen making breakfast. Having heard firsthand from Gwen what the campers ate daily, she knew that some changes were going to have to be made. At least while she was around. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to bring anything that needed refrigeration due to the long drive there. She was able to bring pancake mix as well as some instant oatmeal. While her late night research had taken away some sleep, it was her saving grace for what to make the kids for breakfast.

With breakfast made, and coffee finished brewing, Camille felt ready to take on the day. After making sure nothing was left on that could set the mess hall on fire, she headed toward the door to go outside. While cooking, she’d gotten to see with her own eyes just how little they had in the way of food. Which wasn’t much. It had to change. For that, as much as she wished it weren’t the case, she needed Quartermaster.

Just as she was reaching the door, it slammed open, nearly smacking her extending hand. As well as all of her. Blinking, she stared widely at the figure standing in the doorway. It was Quartermaster, because of course it was. Speak of the Devil, and whatnot. Letting her hand fall back to her side, she gave the man a smile. Despite the far from subtle threatening vibe she got from him, as well as the horror that just seemed to be his entire existence, Camille wasn’t going to not try and be nice. Emphasis on “try”.

“Just the man I was about to look for. I’ve got job for you.”

“What’s innit for me?”

This was the second time that this man had left her speechless just by his choice of words. Even so, Camille was already beginning to sense a pattern forming. She really wanted to question this man and find out what made him tick, but there was a voice in the back of her head screaming at her to not question anything. Fighting against her curiosity, she chose to listen to the voice.

“Fresh food. I just want you to go shopping. I’ve even got a list and money,” she said, pulling the mentioned items out of her pocket for him. “You can go while the campers are eating or during their first activity.” Quartermaster only grunted in response while stabbing them with his hook. Camille watched as he walked past her and into the kitchen. She could see him picking up the pot of coffee through the window.

“Suns up, can drive now,” he said as he put the coffee pot back.

“Oh, alright. Well, do you mind waking up the campers for breakfast?”

His answer was to pick the coffee pot back up and walk out of the mess hall with it. Not wanting to fight with him over the coffee, she just reentered the kitchen so that she could prepare to make more. Gwen would likely need it. Just as Camille found a pitcher that would work with the coffee maker, she could hear what sounded like the screams of children in the distance.

“I’m going to choose to believe that has nothing to do with Quartermaster.”

* * *

Max was rudely awoken by the sound of screaming coming from Neil and … Nikki? He sat up, ready to yell at them, but then saw their terrified expressions directed at the opening of the tent. Slowly, he turned his attention to see Quartermaster staring at the three of them, his one eye looking as dead as ever. Max raised one of his eyebrows, opening his mouth to ask what the old man wanted, but he didn’t get to say anything.

“Breakfast is ready,” Quartermaster said before leaving the three of them alone.

He could feel the muscle beneath one of his eyes twitching. Bringing up his hands, he roughly rubbed his eyes before throwing his arms in the hair. “What the fuck was that,” he asked. The question was mostly rhetorical, knowing that no one could answer any questions in regards to Quartermaster.

“I’ve seen things, Max. Things I can’t unsee.”

“I’m traumatized for life,” Nikki chimed in, oddly cheerful sounding despite her choice of words.

“Nikki, why the hell are you in our tent?”

“Why wouldn’t I be in your tent?”

“Eh, fair enough. Well, let’s get this shit show on the road. Come on, Neil.”

Outside of the tent, Max could see the other campers looking around in a mix of confusion and concern. Looks like Quartermaster didn’t see fit to frighten them like he had Neil and Nikki. Either that, or they woke up from the screaming before the man had the opportunity. Deciding it was too early in the day to really care, he turned and headed to the mess hall. It was early and he needed coffee.

* * *

A cup of coffee in hand, Camille stood in front of the mess hall doors, waiting. She smirked, looking at the steamy, dark liquid in the mug. Gwen had told her a lot of things about the campers. While she may not have the experience that Gwen had gained with the kids over the summer, she was armed with the knowledge gained from her friend’s experience. Camille knew that there was at least one camper that would be adamant about not liking her, but that wasn’t her goal. Her aim was more so for him to be civil with her.

The doors slammed open causing her to look up.

“Coffee-”

“Black?”

Max froze in his tracks and looked up. His eyes widened momentarily as he saw a cup of black coffee being handed to him, and he didn’t even have to fight for it. He was speechless from shock, accepting the cup without much thought. Shaking his head, he came back to his senses, glaring up at the woman he thought wouldn’t dare come back. The glare turned into a smirk as he opened his mouth, but for the second time that day he was interrupted. It was soon becoming a new pet peeve.

“Good morning, Max. Pancakes or oatmeal?”


	5. One Day Since Last Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camille's first day as actually temporary co-counselor goes surprisingly well. Nearly getting hit by the camp bus, aside. So far, the campers don't seem to mind her presence. Well, most of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First things first, I want to give a shoutout to InsaneDeathWish and Rocketwhisp for leaving kudos on this work! I'd also like to thank the six guests that also gave kudos, whomever you may be! 
> 
> I'd also like to say that, considering I'm not always able to get chapters beta read, like how this one wasn't, any feedback you're willing to give in the comments is appreciated. I am always open to constructive criticism!
> 
> Finally, I want to thank everyone that has given this work a chance, even if this type of story ended up not being for you!
> 
> I hope you're all doing well and staying safe!

All of the campers looked surprised to see a meal that didn’t contain mashed potatoes. They were even more surprised as to being given a choice as to what they would be eating. Some of them, like Neil and Max, couldn’t help but question the sudden change in the quality of their food. Others, like Nikki, were too busy stuffing their faces to take a moment to even think about it. While watching the kids eat, Camille noticed that Gwen hadn’t joined them yet. Thinking that things would be fine for a few minutes, she decided to go force Gwen out of bed.

After getting a fresh cup of coffee, she headed to leave. Only, she had a thought. Glancing back over her shoulder, her eyes landed on Space Kid. He saw her looking at him and smiled. She smiled and motioned for him to come over. Space Kid quickly shuffled over. Seeing him be so eager made her smile widen. “I’ve got a task for you. Think you’re up for it?” His immediate nodding and additional salute brought a chuckle. “Okay. I’m going to go get Gwen. If anything goes wrong, come and get me. Alright?”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, enthusiastically giving Camille another salute.

Chuckling, she returned his salute before heading outside. Before heading to the counselors’ cabin, Camille grabbed her suitcase out of her car. In all likelihood, she wouldn’t be able to unpack until tonight, but it would be best to go ahead and drop it off. Who knows, if Gwen refused to get up, even with the promise of coffee, she could always just dump the suitcase on the woman. Sure, it’d make a mess, but it would be worth it. Besides, Gwen had woken her up in a multitude of ways that were way worse than a sudden downpour of clothes.

Letting the suitcase stand up on its own, Camille yanked the cabin door open. Holding it open with her hip, she tossed her suitcase into the room before entering. Looking around the room, it was instantly clear that Gwen wasn’t up yet. A little strange considering the cabin windows didn’t have anything that resembled curtains or blinds. Although, she realized the “how” upon noticing a blatantly large lump beneath the covers of one of the two beds. Shaking her head, Camille purposely stomped while making her way over.

“It’s time to get up, Gwen. Everyone is up but you.”

The only response she received was a groan as well as a muffled request for, what sounded like, five more minutes. Rolling her eyes, Camille set the cup of coffee on the filing cabinet next to the bed. Hands on her hips, she stared down at the cocooned Gwen. “You’ve got until I say ‘three’ to get up on your own,” she warned. There was another reply of muffled words, of which Camille assumed to be something along the lines of “you wouldn’t dare”. Smirking, she reached her hands out after reminding the blanketed woman of the issued warning.

“Three,” she called out, ripping the blanket away and letting it fall to the floor. Camille watched the woman squirm around on the mattress, trying to shield her eyes from the sun’s harsh light. She doubled over laughing while hearing her best friend curse her existence.

“Goddamnit, Cammie! Why am I friends with you?”

“If it makes you feel better, I brought coffee.”

“Why didn’t you start with that?”

“Because that wouldn’t be any fun.”

Gwen proceeded to glare at the laughing woman while sitting up. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed said coffee sitting on her “nightstand”. She picked it up and took a sip, sighing at the comfort of its warmth. Now awake, she stood up from the bed. Seeing Camille still laughing, she got an idea and reached beside her on the bed.

“Alright, that’s enough. Hurry up and-”

Camille found herself being interrupted by what could only be a pillow hitting her face. Pulling the pillow from her face, she sputtered upon finding a few feathers in her mouth. One of which she had to manually remove.

“We’re getting new pillows while we’re out this evening.”

“New pillows would be ni-wait a second. Out?”

“You’ll see. For now, we need to get back to the mess hall.”

“Did you leave the kids alone?”

“Only for, like, five minutes.”

Camille stood back as Gwen began to rush about the cabin. Her eyebrows pulled together. She hadn’t seen the woman move that fast since, well, ever. Just as she was about to say something, Gwen grabbed her by the hand and began to physically drag her in the direction of the mess hall. Alright, she’d heard of the chaos that these children could conjure up seemingly out of nowhere, but it had only been minutes since she’d left them. What was the worst that could happen?

* * *

A lot. There was a lot that could go wrong in the span of five minutes.

While the mess hall wasn’t on fire, a positive in Camille’s opinion, it had erupted in metaphorical flames. Space Kid was currently suspended from the ceiling fan. Which would make sense as to why he never came to get her. Although, he did seem to be enjoying himself, strange as it was. A food fight seemed to have happened, if the overturned tables and oatmeal covered everything were any indication. Which they were. Another positive, everything seemed to come to a halt upon them entering. Well, everything aside from Space Kid, him being stuck to the fan and all.

As much as Camille tried to fight it, she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.

“Well, they don’t call it a ‘mess hall’ for nothing.”

Despite being met with a symphony of groans, Camille kept on smiling.

* * *

Surprisingly, the campers didn’t seem to mind too much about being forced to clean up the mess they had made. Perhaps being given decent food was the reason, or that Camille pitched in while Gwen scavenged what remained of breakfast for herself. Maybe it was both. With the mess hall de-messed, Camille stepped out to her car while Gwen watched the campers. Gwen was sitting, keeping a wary eye on the campers, sipping her coffee and eating pancakes when Max approached her.

“So, what’s her deal?”

“It’s too early to think, Max. Be more specific.”

“Camille. Why is she even at this shit-hole ‘camp’?”

“Because she’s a good person. That’s the only reason she needs.”

“There’s no such thing, Gwen. I thought you knew better by now.”

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Gwen sighed. Putting down the coffee, she turned to face Max, giving him her undivided attention. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes in effort to put her thoughts together. There were a lot of questions that she had about her own best friend. Questions that, even after years, still remained unanswered.

“Max, I honestly don’t know why she’s so nice, but I do know that it’s genuine. She didn’t have to come back here after yesterday, but she did.”

Max was about to argue back, but the sound of a scream caught everyone’s attention. There was a sense of familiarity with hearing a feminine shriek early in the morning. Camille burst through the mess hall doors, looking a little worse for wear. She was clutching a stack of papers to her chest, leaning back against the closed doors while she took deep breaths.

“Quartermaster is back from the store,” she spit out. They were able to connect the dots themselves as to what happened. After all, Quartermaster wasn’t exactly known for being a phenomenal driver. That is, unless you count running people over a good thing.

“What are those papers,” asked Preston. “Spill it, Woman!”

“Oh, well, these are part of something we’re going to be doing today. The plan was to do it in the evening, but Quartermaster is back sooner than I had expected. So, we can just do it now then have the evening for free-time!”

The mention of free-time caught the attention of all the campers. Saturday and Sunday were typically already free days for them. So, the mention of a planned activity had them wondering. With David and Gwen they could expect what they’d be doing. However, Gwen seemed to be just as in the dark as they were. None of them had a handle on how Camille operated. She could be having them do just about anything. They were torn on whether to be scared or excited.

“Let’s head to the bus, Everyone!”

* * *

“This is-” Max paused to take in a deep breath before yelling- “so fucking stupid!”

Although they had absolutely zero expectations, no one had anticipated handing out missing flyers with David’s face on them. However, only Max seemed to be voicing his displeasure. Which was why Camille had decided to work one on one with him while Gwen kept an eye on the nine other campers. The rest of them were handing out and posting them up without much of a fuss. Then again, she did promise they’d get pizza for lunch if they behaved.

“All you’ve got to do is help me hang those up around town, and then you get the rest of the day to yourself. It’s not a lot to ask, Max.”

“None of us give a shit about David. I’m actually glad he’s missing.”

“You can’t really mean that. No one is that heartless.”

Max looked at her with a single raised eyebrow, as if challenging her statement. He closed his eyes and shrugged.

“Mr. Campbell seems pretty heartless to me.”

Camille was at a loss for words at that one. Based on everything that her parents had told her about him, he was a horrible person. Gwen had even shared stories about the man. She’d only figured out they were about Cameron once she found out where Gwen actually worked.

“That man is the exception, not the rule. Flyer, please.”

Camille held her hand out. Max rolled his eyes, but handed her one all the same. He may have felt that this was a waste of time and would continue to complain, but he wasn’t stupid enough to turn his nose up at the opportunity to eat pizza.

“I don’t see what the point of all this is,” he continued. “David probably just finally gave up and quit. Good for him.”

“Max, you and I both know that you’re wrong.” She motioned to him before pointing at herself. “Then again, you do know him better than me.”

It was his turn to not have anything to say. He kept silent, handing Camille a flyer when she held her hand out for one. Max looked at everything except for her face, as well as David’s picture on the homemade posters. She was right, and he hated it. A part of him was actually worried about David. Not that he would ever admit it if confronted.

“Are we done, yet,” Max asked, breaking the silence.

Turning around, Camille was prepared to deflect his complaining, but stopped when she looked at the state of the town behind them. The other campers had practically covered the small town of Sleepy Peak from top to bottom in paper. Clearing her throat, she laughed nervously while looking down at Max.

“This is, uh, good enough. Who’s hungry?”

* * *

It came as a surprise to Gwen and Camille that lunch went without incident, as well as the rest of the day. They’d managed to make it well into the evening with nothing going horribly wrong. Which, according to Gwen, was unusual for Camp Campbell. Camille, on the other hand, preferred to not look a gift horse in the mouth. Dinner was just about over, and she could see the sun disappearing behind the trees through the window.

“Alright, it’s almost time to call it a day. We’ve just got one more thing to do first.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Max called out, having been ready for the day to be over hours ago.

“Now, now, all we’re going to do is establish what we’re going to be doing for the next five days. I would’ve thought you kids would be excited to choose.”

That seemed to get their attention. Smiling, Camille walked around the mess hall, handing out slips of paper and pens to the campers. They looked confused, but accepted the items. Once everything was handed out, she returned to the front of the mess hall and looked at everyone. Some of them seemed to not be paying attention, so she clapped her hands to get all eyes on her.

“Here’s how this is going to work. You each have a slip of paper where you can write down an activity. It can be any activity. Within reason, of course.”

Some of the campers, like Preston, got a gleam in their eyes before writing their choice in activity. In fact, all of them seemed to be writing down something. Well, almost all of them. Max was sitting with his friends, Neil and Nikki. That was all he was doing. Sitting. His pen and paper resting untouched on the table.

“All of your slips of paper will be put into a bowl. Each morning we’ll pull two out. Those two will be the activities for that day.”

“What if we don’t feel like participating,” Max called out, smirking.

“That’s a great question, Max. Anyone that wants to opt out can. However, since Gwen and I would have our hands full running the activities, that means that anyone that doesn’t participate will be left with Quartermaster.”

Camille noticed Max’s eyes grow wide upon hearing that. Even Harrison looked uncomfortable with that being the only other option. Not that she blamed either of them, what with her previous interactions with the man. She didn’t even feel like the man should be allowed to be around children. It was really more of an empty threat to get them to participate. If it was necessary, she was willing to do it once just to set an example. Although, judging by how quickly Max began scribbling something on his paper, she might not have to.

  
  


“Today went surprisingly well. I mean, nothing got set on fire. That’s, like, a new camp record!”

The two women shared a laugh as they entered the cabin. Camille gave Gwen a light shove. “Don’t go jinxing us now, Gwenaissance,” she teased. Gwen groaned at Camille’s use of a terrible nickname. It only made the brunette laugh harder.

“Please, never again. You’re just as bad as my dad.”

Camille rolled her eyes, bending over to grab her suitcase when she noticed something that she’d overlooked that morning. There were only two beds in the cabin. She called out to Gwen, successfully getting her attention. Holding out her hand, she motioned to the bed opposite to Gwen’s. Unfortunately, her friend didn’t seem to be catching on. “Where am I going to sleep,” she asked, face flushed.

“You’ll just sleep in David’s bed. It’s not a big deal.”

But it was a big deal. Camille didn’t feel comfortable sleeping in someone else’s bed. She felt even less comfortable doing so without their permission.

“That doesn’t feel ri-”

“He won’t mind.”

Her face grew hotter. Narrowing her eyes at Gwen, she began sputtering in her attempt at a rebuttal. The heat grew stronger as she noticed her friend raising an eyebrow at her.

“Th-that isn’t the issue here,” she finally managed to spit out.

“Then what is,” Gwen asked, beginning to get fed up with her best friend’s hang ups.

Having already lied to Gwen about her problem with the whole arrangement, she needed to come up with something. Fast.

“What if he comes back in the middle of the night,” she questioned, mentally patting herself on the back. It was a valid concern. David was missing. He could come back at any time. The possibility of him freaking out about a stranger, at least to him, sleeping in his bed. Camille knew he was a nice man that wouldn’t normally hurt someone. At least, that was what she’d gathered from Gwen’s stories. But what if he saw her as a threat? In the back of her mind she recalled what she’d heard about what he’d done to his ex-girlfriend’s new boyfriend. A chair to the face would be a horrible way to wake up.

“We can lock the cabin door, ya know.”

Well, there goes that.

“Oh.”

“Now, get in the fucking bed … but gimme that new pillow first.”

* * *

Neil found himself unable to fall asleep due to Max pacing inside their tent. He sighed, tossing around on the crappy cot, unable to get comfortable enough to ignore his friend. Growling, he propped himself up on his elbows to glare at the smaller boy. Max didn’t even notice, too wrapped up in his thoughts. There was even some muttering that he could hear but not understand.

“Max, if you’re not going to bed, can you at least be quiet so I can sleep?”

“How can you think of sleep right now, Neil?! With David gone, it would’ve been easy to make Gwen snap. Can’t do that now, damnit!”

“Why do you care so much? She seems nice, but not-” Neil paused as he began to think about how he wanted to phrase it. “David nice,” he finished, using air-quotes to emphasize his point. Max’s only response was to roll his eyes. Unable to put up with anymore of Max’s crap, Neil just told him to go to sleep. He was surprised to see his friend actually listen and climb onto his cot. Letting out another sigh, he pulled his cover up before drifting off to sleep.

“There’s got to be something I can use against her,” Max whispered, staring at the ceiling of their tent. He had to get rid of her before David came back.

He had to.


	6. Comprehension and Compassion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unfortunately, I couldn't really think of a good summary to give this chapter. I also ended up having to post it later in the day that I had originally planed due to being away from home longer than I'd anticipated. This chapter was fun for me to write. So, I hope that it's just as enjoyable to read.

Sleep had not come easy for Camille. In fact, she couldn’t even remember falling asleep. Which was why she was surprised to wake up to the sun shining through the windows. Her eyes opened as she squinted up at the window. Groaning, she closed them again, rolling over to turn her back to the light source. She buried her face in her pillow, enjoying the soothing scent of pine.

Wait. Pine?

Confused, she shot up in her bed. Eyes wide, she looked around the room, taking in her surroundings. That’s right, she wasn’t home. She was at Camp Campbell. Although, that didn’t explain the strong scent of pine. It hadn’t been there last night. Had it? Gripping the blanket, she raised it up to her face. Before she could think about what she was doing, she sniffed the blanket.

“Pine,” she mumbled.

Did the whole bed smell that way? Curious, she glanced over her shoulder at the pillow. Reaching back, she grabbed the pillow and shoved it into her face. Taking in a deep breath, she smelled more pine. There was a hint of something else that she couldn’t put her finger on. As nice as it was, she wondered why the scent was so strong. She might as well have shoved her face into an actual pine tree with how nearly overwhelming the smell was.

“You done smelling David’s pillow?”

Yelping, the pillow flew from her hands into the air. Her cheeks grew hot as she whipped her head to look at Gwen across the room. She opened her mouth to speak, but it only hung open with no words coming out. There was just too much going through her mind. How did she end up sleeping with David’s pillow? She could’ve sworn she’d gone to bed with the one she’d brought from home. Looking down at the floor to her right, she noticed two pillows on the floor. Closing her mouth, she began to recall having just put her own pillow on top of the one already on the bed.

Gwen, now fully awake, was sitting up in her bed, taking delight in the embarrassment of her friend. The glare she received didn’t keep her from laughing. “I didn’t know you were into that, Cammie,” she further teased. Continuing to laugh, Gwen got out of bed and stretched. “I thought we were friends. Why didn’t you ever tell me, you fucking pervert you.”

The blush traveled down her neck and onto her upper chest. This only caused Gwen to laugh harder when she noticed. “Oh my god, I’ve read about that, but I didn’t know people could actually do it,” she spit out between laughs, pointing at her blushing best friend. Unable to take it anymore, Camille snatched a pillow off the floor and tossed it, hitting Gwen right in the face.

“I forgot I wasn’t home, you ass!”

“Oh, you smell your own pillow?”

“That’s not-I don’t … Shut up, Gwen!”

* * *

One cup of coffee and a full stomach later, Camille felt ready to take on anything. Well, anything that wasn’t Gwen’s continued teasing. With everyone fed and happy—at least happier than usual—it wasn’t much of a struggle to get their attention. Holding the bowl from yesterday, she reached in and swirled her hand around. The campers watched on, eagerly awaiting the results. Even Max seemed to be interested, even if only a little. Meanwhile, Preston had started biting his nails in anticipation. Not wanting to torture them anymore, she withdrew her hand along with two folded slips of paper. After handing the bowl over to Gwen, she unfolded the slips to read the results.

“Could I get a drumroll,” she asked. It was purely intended as a joke, but she was happy to see Harrison and Nerris indulge her request as they beat their hands on the table. Choking back a giggle, she cleared her throat. “The two activities we are doing today are-” Camille intentionally paused for dramatic effect. However, Nurf was quick to voice his displeasure about it.

“Nurf, she is building suspense!”

Oh, how her love for Preston was quickly growing.

“Thank you, Preston. As I was saying, our two activities of the day are a nature hike, and stargazing.”

Disappointment was on everyone’s faces at their activity not being picked. Well, everyone except for two. Stargazing had obviously been Space Kid’s choice. Nikki picking a nature hike had been unexpected. Camille had genuinely been expecting something more … wild? A nature hike just seemed tame compared to what she’d heard about the feral young girl.

“So, we’re going to take a hike today. We’ll pack sandwiches so we can have a picnic for lunch. Then, when we get back you all can rest until sundown, which will be when we come back together for some stargazing.”

“Alright, you little shits, go get ready. And no funny business, or you’re getting left behind with Quartermaster!”

That seemed to set a fire under their butts. The two women laughed as they watched the kids hightail it out of the mess hall. Camille motioned over her shoulder with her thumb at the kitchen.

“I’ll pack our bags if you get started on those sandwiches?”

“Deal.”

“I’ll come back and help you when I’m do-”

“Just hurry up and pack our shit, Cammie!”

“Okay, okay.”

* * *

It was a beautiful day outside. Warm and sunny. There was even a light breeze wafting by their group. Closing her eyes, Camille took in a deep breath. Reopening her eyes, she cast her gaze back. She could see the campers making their way up to where she was, Gwen at the back to make sure no one tried to make a run for it. So far, everything was going alright. The only snag had been trying to keep Nikki with the rest of the group. She’d gotten overexcited and tried to run ahead multiple times.

“How’s everyone holding up,” she called out, turning her attention back to the path ahead.

None of them seemed to be outright miserable. At least not enough to voice it. Max and Neil had been dragged to the front of the group by Nikki. Despite not liking the outdoors much, Neil didn’t seem as unhappy with the hike as Max did. That might be in some due part to them taking a slow pace, as well as stopping for a break if someone asked. She was unsure of how to take the silence that seemed to be the answer to her question.

Before she could ask again, she heard a thud behind her.

Quickly, she turned around only to see Max lying face down in the dirt. Nikki, bless her heart, had taken to poking him with a stick. She instructed the small girl to back away as she approached. Kneeling down, she gently put a hand on Max’s back. He began to move as she asked if he was alright. Max shoved her hand away from him before making a show of struggling to get back on his feet. It seemed that he’d tripped, but Camille couldn’t see anything that could’ve caused that to happen.

“Oh no. My ankle. Guess that means no more hiking for me,” he said, voice laced with false disappointment.

So, that was his ploy. Two could play that game.

“Well, we’re actually not far from the end,” she said with a smile, electing to ignore the glare Max directed at her.

“But I can’t walk like this,” he countered, gesturing towards his supposedly injured ankle.

“I didn’t say anything about _you_ walking, Max.”

* * *

It hadn’t been easy to carry a heavy backpack filled to the brim with water bottles, sandwiches, and a small first aid kit, as well as a ten year old child. However, seeing how much more miserable Max seemed to be with the whole arrangement fueled her to keep going.

“Are we there yet,” he grumbled in her ear, arms crossed over his chest.

“Actually, we are.”

Stretching her free hand out, she pointed just up ahead of them. There were sighs of relief all around. Being true to herself, Nikki ran ahead, dragging Neil behind her. Not wanting either to get hurt, she picked up her own pace to catch up to them. She tried not to jostle Max too much, but it swiftly turned into a bumpy ride for the boy.

“You guys can’t go running off like th-”

Camille got cut off as a branch swung back and smacked her in the face. Judging the fact that Max was laughing at her, she was the only one that got hit. Continuing forward, she found Nikki and Neil in the small glade that had been their planned destination. Seeing that they were both fine, she sighed. The rest of the campers, and Gwen, could be heard approaching from behind.

“I didn’t know this was here,” Gwen said as she stepped into the clearing.

“I found this place years ago. Came here when I needed to be alone.”

“Were you once a camper at Camp Campbell, Camille,” Nikki asked.

“No, but I did spend many summers in this area.”

Max eyed her suspiciously. He didn’t believe her. Not fully. She might have been telling the truth about not having gone to Camp Campbell, but there was something else she was hiding. A lie by omission was still a lie. Though, he didn’t have anything concrete that he could confront her about. Yet.

* * *

After wrapping Max’s ankle, Camille had asked him to stay by her so that he wouldn’t accidentally make it worse. He hated it. Wasn’t above telling her so, either. It honestly made her feel a little bad as they both watched the other campers run around and have fun. Out of everyone, Nikki seemed to be the most in her element. Reminded her of herself when she was that age. Except, she couldn’t remember herself eating dirt like that.

“Nikki, Sweetie, wouldn’t you rather eat a sandwich?”

The mention of food brought all eyes on her. Pulling her backpack into her lap, she motioned for Gwen to get her’s as well. They both began to divvy out the sandwiches and water bottles. Once everyone had one of each, she checked what was left to make sure there was enough left if someone got thirsty on the trek back to camp. Camille relaxed as she sat beside Max, the two of them nibbling on their respective sandwiches.

“You know I faked it, right,” Max managed to spit out in between bites.

“I do,” she admitted, setting her sandwich on her lap. Resting her forearms on her thighs, she leaned forward to get a better look at his face. He didn’t seem too surprised at her answer. “But now you’ve got two options, Max.”

“Oh really,” he said, clearly not believing her.

“Yep. You can either walk back to camp on your own, showing everyone that you weren’t actually hurt, or-”

“Or?”

“Or … you keep up the act, and I carry you back to camp.”

Max obviously didn’t like either of those options, but he was between a rock and a hard place. Both of them were equally terrible in their own ways. He stopped eating his sandwich as he began to think about it. If he chose to walk back, everyone else would make fun of him as if he’d done it to seek attention. On the other hand, if he let her carry him, they’d make fun of him for that. It was a lose-lose for him no matter what.

Might as well take the path that lead to less work.

* * *

There were teases and giggles directed at Max on the walk back to camp. Some, like Space Kid and Ered, didn’t really seem to care. Nerris, Harrison, Neil, and Nikki were giggling at their friend’s expense. Then there was Dolph who actually seemed to be jealous of the attention that Max was getting. All of them were easy to ignore, save for Nurf.

“Ha! Max is being held like a baby!”

Camille could hear Max grumbling. He was starting to get sick of Nurf’s constant verbal jabs at him, but so was she.

“Nurf, I’m going to give you two choices. You can either stop and enjoy free time when we get back, like everyone else, or you can keep going and you’ll be washing dishes tonight.”

“You can’t make me do shit!”

“I can’t, but _Quartermaster_ can.”

Her thinly veiled threat seemed to be enough to get him to settle down. At least for the rest of the trip back to camp. The giggling had even stopped. It just confirmed that none of them wanted to be around the strange old man for an extended period of time. She was right there with them.

Looking dead ahead, she could see a faint smile on Max’s face out of her peripheral.

* * *

Things had continued relatively smoothly well into the evening. After the hike, none of the kids wanted to walk very far for their night activity. She couldn’t blame them for that. With some flashlights and blankets, they made their way to the lake to lie on the shore. Once everyone was settled, they turned off their flashlights to stare up at the night sky.

There was just something peaceful about lying in the grass and dirt, looking up at the night sky. She took a moment to close her eyes, listening to the campers talk to one another. Space Kid was listing off and pointing at constellations to anyone that was willing to listen. Nerris even knew some of the stories about them. Ered and Dolph found the stories interesting. Her eyes opened just in time to see a streak run across the sky.

Even with all the campers talking, some louder than others, Camille felt at peace. She could hardly remember the last time she just got to stare up at the sky like this. It was something she’d missed more than she thought. She wished she could have more nights like this.

“You don’t see stars like this back in the city,” she whispered to herself, not really looking to start a conversation.

So, it was a surprise to hear a scoff next to her. Looking to her left, Camille saw Max standing at the edge of her blanket. Smiling, she patted the empty spot next to her, asking him to join her. Max rolled his eyes, but accepted her invitation. He lied down beside her, keeping a comfortable distance between them. Shoving his hands in his hoodie pocket, he finally spoke up.

“There are no stars in the city.”

“Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean that they're not there.”

“Whatever.”

Camille turned her attention back to the stars. She’d known before coming to camp that Max was a troublemaker that acted out often. Not that he did so without reason. Out of all the campers, he was the hardest to reach. He kept everyone at an arm’s length, not letting anyone close. A defense mechanism.

She had experience with those.

Clearing her throat to get his attention, she scooted a little closer to him on the blanket, trying not to get too close. Shooting him a smile, she pointed up at the stars above them. He groaned, causing her to laugh.

She’d learned a lesson years ago.

“When I was little, my dad, he-”

There was only one way to get someone to open up to you.

“I don’t remember much of my dad, my real dad, but I remember how we’d make up our own constellations. Would you like to try?”

You had to open up to them first.

“I guess that doesn’t sound completely stupid.”


	7. Win Some, Lose Others

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camille knows the importance of picking and choosing your battles. However, sometimes your battles choose you. Some she can win, some she loses. For all of them, she does the best that she can.

There was nothing that anyone could have said that would have prepared Camille for what was inside the Quartermaster store. It was as if someone took a thrift store, and combined it with a paranormal shop. She couldn’t make any sense of the combination of items that she found. Although, out of all the strange items scattered about, she couldn’t keep herself from focusing on the variety of prosthetic attachments that Quartermaster had.

“Is that a … stone tablet? Just-why? What’s it _for_?”

Deciding not to linger on it further, she looked around the room for the bicycles that Quartermaster had told her were supposed to be in here. Only, she wasn’t seeing anything that resembled a bike in the slightest. There was actually just about everything in there but what she was looking for. There was a game of twister, balls of various sizes, and even a box with spare camper shirts in them. She was starting to get frustrated, and the growing sound of chaos outside wasn’t helping.

“Wait a minute.”

Abandoning the search, Camille ran out of the glorified shed to see what all the ruckus was about. She had been expecting for something to be on fire and maybe Gwen tied to the flagpole again. What she wasn’t expecting was for there to be four extra kids that clearly belonged to another camp. One of the kids had fallen on his back and was struggling to right himself. Two others seemed to be focusing on terrorizing the campers. The last boy, with a noticeable difference in his uniform, had his eyes set on Gwen, who looked like she’d rather be anywhere else.

“What the fuck is going on here,” she yelled out.

“Oh, Gwendolyn, who is this,” the boy asked, making both adult women uncomfortable with how he said Gwen’s name.

“I’m Camille. Who the fuck are you?”

* * *

One explanation later, and all Camille had was more questions. Why did the Wood Scouts want Camp Campbell so bad? How often did they do this? Where was their adult supervision? Was there even adult supervision? How were their parents alright with this? Did their parents even know?

“We’re not doing this. You-”

“Oh, contraire-”

“I wasn’t done talking. You’re all going to-”

“Wood Scouts do not take orders from women.”

Camille could feel a growl forming in the back of her throat, but she forced it back down. She wouldn’t ever consider herself a violent person, choosing to resolve conflicts with her words rather than fists. However, Pikeman was pushing the limits of her patience and restraint. Under normal circumstances, she couldn’t envision herself hitting a child. However, these weren’t normal circumstances. She wanted to see this boy eat dirt.

“We are going to have a ‘friendly’ competition. If we win, we get the camp. If you win, we _don’t_ get the camp.”

“Yeah, that’s not happening. The camp and its campers are not gambling chips.”

“Ugh, fine. If we win, we get sweet Gwen-”

“Nope,” chimed Gwen, making Camille smile.

“Then what do we get when we win,” Pikeman demanded.

Bringing her hand to her chin, Camille took some time to think. What would they get if they win? She’d already made it clear that nothing belonging to the camp was on the table. So, what was left? A small smirk formed on her lips as she had an idea.

“You guys want to take something from this camp so bad? Fine. _If_ you win, you get me.”

“Cammie!”

“Quiet, Gwendolyn. Please, do go on.”

Camille had to fight to keep her smirk from growing. He’d taken the bait she’d cast out. She forced a soft smile as she moved closer to Pikeman.

“If you win, you get me. If we win, you don’t get me. With me being the prize, I’d say it’s fair that I get to choose the event.”

“What is it you have in mind?”

* * *

“Dodgeball,” all the children cried out in unison.

“You got it,” Camille answered, tossing a ball in her hands.

“While I have faith in my scouts’ abilities to yield to my outstanding leadership, our numbers are disproportionate.”

“I’m going to explain the rules that I’ve deemed to make things the most fair, but first we need to get into our teams.”

Pikeman eyed her with mild suspicion, but gestured for her to continue. Despite them only having bested Camp Campbell once, and even then not really, he felt confident that his team would succeed. Overly confident. Nodding at his gesture just to humor him, Camille turned her attention to the Campbell campers. She took only a moment to look them over before deciding on who would be best suited for the match.

“Nurf, Nikki, Space Kid, and Max.”

Everyone had seemed to be onboard with the kids she picked, until she got to Space Kid. He, of course, didn’t notice and was more than happy to participate. The Wood Scouts could be heard laughing in the background. Their laughter only got harder when they heard her list Max as the last member of the team opposing them. Camille ignored the jeers and protests. She knew what she was doing.

“If you’re all finished, I’d love to actually tell you the rules.”

Thankfully, that seemed to get everyone to settle down. At least temporarily.

“Pay attention, I’ll only be saying this once. Got it?”

Everyone seemed to nod along. Everyone except for Nikki who seemed to be distracted by … something in the trees. Probably a squirrel. Sighing, she narrowed her eyes on the small girl and gave a sharp whistle. Nikki hadn’t been the only one caught off guard by it. With everyone looking at her, she didn’t soften her gaze. A nonverbal dare for any of them to look elsewhere.

“Each team is made up of four members. Three of you are offense, while the fourth is a medic. These-”She pulled out two of the yellow camper shirts, holding them up for everyone to see, “-are going to serve as markers to indicate who your team medic is.”

Before continuing, she handed each team one of the shirts.

“Your medic can’t throw the balls, and only your medic can bring you back from being out. The only other rule is no headshots. Any headshot results in a permanent out that your medic can’t bring you back from.”

Smirking, Pikeman began to huddle up with the members of his team to begin to strategize. Camille could see them sneaking glances over at her chosen team, making gestures.

“This is a terrible idea,” Max said, causing Camille to jump from his sudden presence.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because we’re going to lose.”

“While I do pride myself in my strong throwing arm, I think Max is right,” Nurf agreed.

“You gave us Space Kid. No offense,” added Nikki.

The rest of the campers, and Gwen, soon swarmed her. Each of them talking simultaneously in an attempt to express their concerns. All of their voices were overwhelming. She had to fight the urge to yell at them to be quiet. They weren’t aware of her plan. Of course, they weren’t. She didn’t bring it up, and she still couldn’t. Not without risking Pikeman catching wind of it.

They were all smart kids, but none of them were anywhere close to being strategists. Then again, she wasn’t too surprised. Camp Campbell was nowhere close to the kind of cutthroat, competitive camp she’d gone to when she was younger.

“This is going to work,” she insisted, despite not being completely sure herself.

“How can you be so sure, Cammie? You’re my best friend. I’m not losing you to those piece-of-shit Wood Scouts.”

“You’re not going to lose me, Gwen.”

That seemed to placate the woman. Now, she just had to assure the campers.

“I can’t give you kids details without Pikeman catching on. I’m putting my trust in you guys to pull this off. So, I need you to put your trust in me that this _will_ work.”

Her words seemed to lift their spirits well enough. Well, except Max. Getting down on her knees, she looked him directly in the eyes.

“Max, you’re smart. Really fucking smart. Remember the rules. Think. Who’s going to be their medic?”

Camille could practically see the wheels turning in his head. Then, she noticed a smirk begin to form on his lips. She responded in kind.

* * *

Five minutes. Only five minutes into the game and the Wood Scouts’ medic, one Jermy Fartz, had been struck down. It had taken an additional five minutes, which prompted a time out, for him to pick himself up off the ground. Camille noticed Pikeman berating the boy, making her dislike him and his "leadership" all the more. After checking on Jermy’s well being, she snuck away to the counselors’ cabin.

Once inside, she locked the door before searching through Gwen’s paperwork. Several minutes passed before she found anything that so much as resembled a camper application. Nothing was organized. Then again, this was Gwen’s desk. In a way, she was glad to see that nothing had really changed since their time in college.

“Cammie, don’t touch my stuff. I know where everything is. It’s an organized mess, Cammie,” she mocked her best friend, remembering the arguments they’d had about the constant mess on Gwen's side of the room.

Not finding what she was looking for, she moved onto David’s desk. For a moment, she hesitated. Was she really about to dig through a missing man’s belongings? Pushing down her preemptive guilt, she yanked a drawer open.

Yes. Yes, she was.

“Alphabetical order, my savior!”

Within moments she found what she was searching for. Opening the file, her eyes scanned the paperwork until they landed on a phone number. Quickly, she pulled her phone out to input the number. No longer needing it, she set the paperwork on the desk as her phone rang in her ear. An anxious feeling settled in her stomach as it continued to ring. Just as she was about to give up and redial, someone picked up on the other end.

_“Hello?”_

“Is this Mrs. Minnie Fartz?”

_“Yes. Who is this?”_

“I’m Camille with Camp Campbell-”

_“Is this about my sweet Jermy?”_

“Yes, but it’s nothing bad. He’s perfectly fine.”

_“Oh, thank goodness. What can I help you with?”_

“I’m so glad you asked, Mrs. Fartz.”

With her free hand, Camille gathered a pen and some blank paper. If Jermy’s mother happened to have what she wanted, she was going to need them.

* * *

Still on the phone, Camille returned to the activities field. Gwen and the children were confused to see her walking back, not having noticed her missing. The Wood Scouts, however, were too busy mourning their loss to have noticed.

“Cammie, what are you doing,” Gwen asked.

“Sorry, Karen. Gwen needs me for just a second.”

Camille pulled the phone away from her ear, tapping the screen with her thumb to mute the call.

“Who’s Karen?”

“Oh, she’s Mrs-”

“You Campbell losers will get what’s coming to you!”

“Careful, Pikeman,” Camille warned, putting the call on speakerphone.

“What can a _woman_ like you-”

_“Camille? Are you still there?”_

A smirk formed as she watched the color drain from Pikeman’s face. He recognized that voice. Just like she knew he would. Leaving the phone on speaker, she unmuted the call, not taking her eyes off Pikeman.

“I’m right here, Karen. Sorry that took so long.”

_“Oh, it’s no trouble. You just let me know if my little Eddie is giving you any trouble, alright?”_

“Of course, Karen. You’ll be the first to know. Now, I-”

_“I’ll let you go. It was nice talking to you. Goodbye.”_

“You, too. Goodbye.”

Pocketing her phone, she walked over to the Wood Scouts. The Campbell campers, along with Gwen, stood back and watched. The children seemed confused, while Gwen quickly picked up on what Camille was doing.

“You asked what I can do, Eddie. Well—” “Eddie,” Max spit out in the background, falling to the ground as laughter overtook him. “—this is it.”

“No, you wouldn’t dare,” Pikeman insisted, but he sounded unsure.

“Oh, but I would. I’ve got all your parents’ numbers, and I won’t hesitate to call them.”

All of the Wood Scouts, save for Jermy, audibly gulped at the threat. Pikeman began to verbally backpedal, the rest of his troop following suit. Soon, they were hightailing it back to their boat at the docks. Pikeman let loose one last threat aimed specifically at Camille before they disappeared from sight.

“Well, we didn’t get to do mountain biking. Sorry, Ered.”

“It’s cool. This wasn’t too bad.”

“We’ve still got Harrison’s magic show,” Nerris added, surprising the boy that she was the one to bring it up.

“Yeah, and you’re going to be my assistant. You promised, remember?”

“That sounds all well and good, but I think we should eat first,” Camille interjected.

Camille watched as the kids headed to the mess hall. She listened as they talked to each other about the game of dodgeball, recounting how much fun it had been. Nikki even mentioned them getting Pikeman to eat dirt. Dang, she’d missed that. Oh well. Maybe there will be a next time. Gwen pulled up beside her, begging her to tell her about the phone calls, partially stuck on how she hadn’t thought of it before.

* * *

After eating, everyone had gone to the amphitheater for Harrison’s show. Even Quartermaster had joined them in the audience, leaning against a tree off to the side. Camille had taken a seat on a bench towards the back, sitting by herself. She was watching Harrison “saw” Nerris in half when she heard shuffling beside her. Out of her peripheral, she noticed a familiar shade of blue.

“How’d you know that was going to work?”

“I didn’t, Max.”

“So, you bet your freedom on a chance?”

“That’s what betting is, but I didn’t actually bet anything.”

“Uh, yeah, you did. You said they’d get you if they win.”

“Except, I don’t work for Camp Campbell. I’m a volunteer.”

Max grew silent at her words. She smiled down at him as he processed what she’d said.

“Even if they won, the most they’d get is bragging rights. If they took me by force, that’s kidnapping, which is illegal. Plus, a verbal contract doesn’t hold up in a court of law.”

“Huh, you’re smarter than David and Gwen.”

“Aww, thanks, Ma-”

“Shut up, that’s a low bar to clear.”

Smiling, she looked back at the stage to check on Harrison and Nerris. Glancing back over at Max, she’d opened her mouth to say something, but she grew silent at what she saw. He was still sitting next to her, but he was holding a phone in his hands. Last she checked, none of the campers were supposed to have phones. She could remember Gwen talking about it at the beginning of summer.

“Max, where did you get that from?”

Max looked up at her, not expecting her question. He quickly replaced the surprise on his face with his usual uncaring expression.

“It’s David’s,” he answered. Casual, as if he’d just been asked what time it was.

David’s phone? The same David that was missing? That David?

Camille brought her hand to her mouth. The overwhelming feeling of anger was making her feel sick. She’d been angry at Pikeman earlier, but that was different from this. Max had taken David’s phone, leaving the man possibly stranded without any way to contact anyone for help. She wanted to cry and scream at Max.

No, she couldn’t do that.

There was no way that Max could’ve known that David would go missing. No one would have been able to know something like that would happen. Sucking in a breath through her clenched teeth, she turned toward Max. He was back to looking down at the phone.

She wasn’t going to scream at a ten year old child about his actions and the potential consequences right now. She wasn’t going to cause a scene, humiliating him in front of everyone else. No, they could talk about it later in private. Most of all, she wasn’t going to let him keep that phone.

“Max, give me the phone.”

“What?”

Her teeth clenched. She didn’t want to repeat herself. It was already hard enough to get it out the first time.

“The phone, Max. Give it to me.”

“Ha, ha, very funny. You _almost_ got me.”

It wasn’t funny.

“I’m not playing, Max. Give me the phone,” she said, her voice holding more bite as she tried to keep a tight leash on her emotions.

“You know, I was just starting to think that you were alright, but now I see that you’re worse than David.”

“Max-“ Her voice raised more than she’d intended. His eyes widened. She quickly glanced around, sighing as she saw everyone still wrapped up in Harrison’s magic act. Taking in a deep breath, she looked back down to Max.

“Max, you’re not in trouble, but this is something that I have to talk to you about. Not now, but later.”

He looked from the phone to her and back. It was plain to see that he was confused about not being in trouble. Blinking back the tears that had begun to form, she held her hand out.

“Please, Max. Give me the phone,” she asked one last time, her voice wavering slightly.

Without saying anything, he placed the phone in her hand. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he got up and walked toward the heart of the camp. Camille watched him walk away, looking down at the phone only after his form disappeared from her line of sight. She’d known going in that Max had walls that weren’t easy to tear down. And all she had managed to accomplish was fortifying them.

The sound of clapping startled her. She quickly looked up to see both Harrison and Nerris bowing. Their performance was over. After hastily pocketing the phone, she forced a smile and began to clap alongside everyone else. Her eyes flickered back to the direction Max had gone. Guilt settled in her stomach. Reaching Max was going to be a long and drawn out fight, but it was one she intended to win.


	8. Brace for Bonqiusha

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ready or not, Bonquisha is making a return to Camp Campbell. Unfortunately for Camille, she’s not ready at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm busting my butt trying to keep a relatively consistent posting schedule. Mostly cause I keep getting distracted and writing future chapters rather than the chapter that ACTUALLY goes next.
> 
> I believe this chapter is the longest one so far. I've been trying to keep the chapter lengths consistent in word count, but this one kinda got away from me a bit.

Ever since breakfast, Camille hadn’t been able to find her phone. She’d turned all her pockets inside out. The only thing she found was bits of lint and loose string. Gwen had even helped her look in the counselors’ cabin. It wasn’t even lying in the dirt anywhere that she’d been so far in the day. Every single time there was nothing to be found. Both she and Gwen had had their suspicions about the campers, but none of them had the phone either.

She was supposed to be receiving a phone call from the sheriff about filing the missing person’s report for David. If she didn’t find her phone, there wouldn’t be a phone call. That call was important.

Nerris had suggested she cast a detection spell to see if she could find it that way. It was a sweet offer, but Camille didn’t want to get the girl’s hopes up. She struggled to get the young girl to focus on something other than her “quest”, but reminding her of their first scheduled activity seemed to do the trick.

“I’ve got tons of pre-made character sheets that-”

“Nerris, Sweetie, why don’t we make our own characters? I think everyone would enjoy that more,” she interjected, wanting the other kids to at least be somewhat invested in the activity.

“That’s a great idea, Camille! Oh, you should be an elf! Like me!”

Camille giggled at Nerris’s enthusiasm. It was nice that the girl had something that she was this passionate about. In her experience, parents didn’t usually encourage something creative that couldn’t be utilized as a skill later on in life. She was happy that some of these kids lucked out on getting supportive parents.

“I think I’d like that, Nerris.”

* * *

Since Nerris was the only one with experience with the game and its mechanics, Camille and Gwen allowed her to take charge of the activity while they supervised. Everything was running smoothly. For the most part.

Most of the children weren’t taking it seriously, but some were taking it too seriously. Preston, for example, was too engrossed in fleshing out the backstory to pay attention to his character’s stats. Dolph had quickly latched onto drawing his character once Nerris had pointed out the space available on the character sheets. In the middle of the spectrum, Neil and Nikki seemed to just be having fun with it.

“I don’t know what race to pick, but I want to be a barbarian,” Nikki said; the prospect of entering a blind rage appealed to her more feral nature.

“Yeah, I’m not sure what race either. Nerris picked an alchemist for me before. So, I’ll just stick with that. What about you, Max,” asked Neil.

However, Max wasn’t paying attention to the conversation his friends were trying to include him in. He wasn’t even actually participating in the current activity. Instead, he was staring down at his lap. Only every so often did he look up, glancing specifically at Camille. His two friends had been ignoring his behaviour, but now it was just too suspicious to ignore.

“Max,” Nikki said, trying to get his attention.

“Huh-Oh, right. We’re doing nerd stuff.”

“No,  _ we’ve _ been doing ‘nerd stuff’, Max. What have  _ you _ been doing this whole time,” Neil asked, pointing an accusatory finger at his friend.

Max looked over his shoulder at Camille, smirking once he saw that she was occupied by what seemed to be a fight between Nerris and Harrison. Turning to face his friends, he pulled his hands out of his lap. He’d had a phone the entire time.

“How’d you get David’s phone back,” Nikki asked.

“Wait, that’s not David’s phone,” Neil pointed out at the same time.

The two of them shared a look before turning back to Max, waiting for answers.

“You’re right, Neil. This _ isn’t _ David’s phone.”

It didn’t take long for the other two to connect the dots. Still, Neil was quicker on the uptake than Nikki was. He stood from his seat, raising his voice before Max motioned for him to be quiet.

“Max, how did you even get that,” he asked, trying to maintain a whisper despite his growing frustration with his friend.

“I found it on the ground while we were looking for it this morning.”

“Then why didn’t you give it back,” asked Nikki.

“Well, I kept it to see if I could dig up some dirt on her, but I found something better.”

Max scanned the room to verify that Camille was still busy. She’d managed to end the fight between the two magic kids, but now her hands were tied because of Nurf. Literally. Smirking, he held up the phone to show the screen for Neil and Nikki to see.

“Tinder,” the two asked simultaneously.

Nodding, Max turned the screen to face him again. He started to type on the phone, once again it was taking up all of his attention. Neil and Nikki decided to leave him alone and return to making their characters, but the two of them had a weird feeling they couldn’t ignore.

Hadn’t they done this before?

* * *

Character creation had gotten out of hand. As soon as everyone was finished, they’d taken to fighting over who had the best character. Of course, everyone thought that their own character was best. What had started as a heated debate soon turned into screaming and yelling. Before Camille could even blink, Nurf was brandishing a knife again.

Doing the only thing that came to mind, she got everyone to focus on something else. Getting the kids to focus on lunch had been easy. There was just one issue.

“Quartermaster, you can’t just feed the kids mashed potatoes!”

Camille was just about to storm into the kitchen to take over for the man, but Gwen stopped her.

“I’ll take this. You watch them,” Gwen said, jabbing her thumb at the campers.

Knowing better than to argue with the woman, Camille turned to watch over the kids. They’d all seemed to calm down, actual hunger having beat their thirst for chaos. She singled out Max from the group and observed him. He’d been uncharacteristically quiet. There wasn’t any complaining that she could recall hearing. If anything, she’d been expecting him to act out more after what had happened yesterday.

With the current peace and quiet, she decided to take advantage of it.

“Nikki? Neil? Do you two mind if I have a quick talk with Max?”

Max attempted to object, but he was cut off by his two friends saying that they didn’t mind. Then, he felt himself being picked up without his consent. He voiced his complaints only for the other campers to turn their backs to him.

“Traitors,” he grumbled.

After getting a good distance away from the other campers, Camille set Max down on his own feet. As she expected, he demanded to know what it was she wanted. With one more brief check on the other kids, she turned to face Max.

“I told you we would talk later about you taking David’s phone. Well, it’s later.”

“Are you serious? I thought I wasn’t in trouble for that!”

“You weren’t, Max, and you still aren’t. I just want you to understand the effects that your actions have on others.”

“I’ve taken David’s phone from him all the time, and nothing bad has ever happened. Well, except for that one time.”

That raised some questions, but Camille decided not to linger on it. She did make a mental note so that she could revisit it later, though.

“Max, you took David’s phone.”

“Correct.”

“The phone that is his only way of communicating with others.”

“That’s what a phone is. Just … what’s your point?”

“A phone that belongs to the man that is now missing. David’s phone.”

“Oh.”

There it was.

“Max, you had no way of knowing that David would go missing, but that’s what my point is. If he had his phone, maybe he would’ve been able to contact someone. You can’t just take things like that from people, Max.”

Camille glanced over to the other kids to check on them before looking through the window into the kitchen.

“That’s really all I wanted to say. Now, lunch is almost ready,” she said, gently nudging him in the direction of his friends.

Not saying anything, Max walked back over to Nikkie and Neil. He sat down at the table. Eyebrows furrowed, he stared at the table in front of him. His two friends tried to talk to him, but their voices fell on deaf ears. The weight of Camille’s phone felt heavy in his pocket.

“Are you alright, Max,” Neil asked, feeling concern due to his friend’s uncharacteristic silence.

No. Max wasn’t alright. He felt … bad, and he didn’t like it.

A faint vibration pulled Max from his thoughts. He pulled the phone out and began to type again. Moments after hitting send, he got a reply.

“Shit.”

* * *

“Alright, you little shits, it’s time for self defense camp,” Gwen announced using the megaphone.

“Thank you, Gwen.”

“No problem, Cammie,” she said, still using the megaphone.

Camille extended her hand, pushing the megaphone down to keep Gwen from using it anymore. There was already a light ringing in one of her ears.

“So, our main focus today is basic self defense. Now-.”

“What if we never need it,” asked Dolph.

“That’s a very good question. We don’t want you to ever have to defend yourself, but it’s important that you learn. Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.”

Camille motioned for Gwen to step closer. Given their height difference, Gwen was playing the part of the assailant in the mock scenarios to make things easier for the campers to see the techniques. Feeling Gwen’s arms wrap around her, she turned and looked at the children.

“Before I show you anything, I want you kids to tell me what you think you would do first in this situation.”

“We’re going to be at this forever, Cammie,” Gwen whispered, prompting Camille to shush at her.

“Roll for initiative!”

“Nerris, you idiot. That’s not going to do anything.”

“Harrison, no one is an idiot,” Camille scolded, giving the boy a pointed look, “but he is right, Nerris. You’ve got to think on your feet, and be quick about it.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Nikki raising her hand and bouncing around.

“Yes, Nikki?”

“I’d bite ‘em!”

Chuckling, she shook her head slightly. She wasn’t sure what else she’d been expecting Nikki to say.

“Now, while that wouldn’t work in the hold that Gwen has me in, I’d suggest keeping an eye out for those kinds of opportunities.”

After making sure none of the other children had anything to add, she glanced back at Gwen and gave her a wink.

“When you get grabbed from behind, keep an eye on where their feet are. One well placed stop on the top of their foot might get them to release you.”

To demonstrate, she raised her foot and brought it down on top of Gwen’s, being careful to not actually hurt the woman. Gwen still didn’t let go of her.

“This isn’t guaranteed to work. Another option is a sequence of steps-”

“Um, Camille,” interrupted Max, his voice tight.

“Can this wait till after the lesson,” she asked.

Max only shook his head from side to side, looking down at his feet. Camille shared a look with Gwen before getting released from the hold. Gwen motioned for Camille to tend to Max while she watched over the rest of the kids. She walked up to Max while Gwen led the other campers a little ways off to do some stretches. Just as she was about to ask Max what was wrong, she was having a familiar phone shoved in her face.

“Max, you found my phone! Thank you,” she said, taking the phone from him.

Turning the phone over in her hands, she didn’t notice the look of regret on his face. Before she could thank him anymore, her phone started to ring in her hands. It was an unfamiliar number. This had to be Sheriff Sal. There wasn’t anyone else she’d given her contact information to.

“Camille, wait-” Max tried, but it was too late.

“I’m sorry if I missed your call earlier,” she apologized.

_ “This is my first time calling you.” _

“Good, I was about to feel bad for a second. So, Sal-”

_ “Um, my name is Jacob.” _

“Oh, sorry. I didn’t know Sal would have someone else call about the paperwork.”

_ “I don’t know Sal, and I’m not calling about paperwork. Listen, I broke up with my girlfriend. She, uh, didn’t take it too well, and she knows where you are.” _

“It’s Jacob, right? Look, I think you’ve got the wrong number. I-”

“I’m looking for a bitch named Camille! Where is she,” came a demanding voice in the distance.

“I’ve got to go,” she said, quickly ending the call.

* * *

Camille would never label herself a coward. However, she was currently cowering from the Amazonian-like woman that she learned to be Bonquisha. The woman was massive, with arms and legs like tree trunks. She’d never seen a woman so muscular. A small part of her was in awe, but the larger part was screaming for her to run. She’d finally started to, but it was too late. Bonquisha had already gotten a hold of her.

“So,  _ you’re _ the dainty, little thing Jacob left me for.”

Despite the intended intimidation, of which still affected Camille, it also felt like a partial compliment. Like the backhanded compliments she often got from her parents. But nicer, in a way.

“This is all a big, no,  _ huge _ misunderstanding. I’ve never even spoken to Jacob until he called me just a couple minutes ago.”

“Uh uh, don’t try to play Bonquisha like that. I got receipts,” she informed, holding up her phone to show screenshots.

Well, the proof was in the pudding, as they say. That was definitely Camille’s picture, and even her Tinder account. Yet, it had been at least a month since she last recalled ever logging into her account. Something wasn’t adding up.

“I’m sure we can talk this out like reasonable adults and come to the conclusion as to what exactly happened,” she insisted.

“You stole my boyfriend, and now you want to ‘talk it out’. Oh no, I’m done talking. We’re going to hash this out, woman to woman.”

She had a gut feeling that she wasn’t going to like where this was going.

* * *

Camille’s gut feeling had been right.

Fortunately for Bonquisha, and unfortunately for Camille, Quartermaster had heard their squabble and volunteered to assist them in settling it. What Camille hadn’t expected was for him to lead the two of them to a boxing ring in the middle of the woods. When questioned, he only informed her that it had been there the whole time. Too busy questioning her sanity, she didn’t notice that she’d been placed in the ring. After getting a pair of mitts shoved onto her hands, Quartermaster stepped out of the ring.

Camille watched him pull out a bell. Where did he get that from? Wait, did he have a hammer instead of a hook now? Why did Gwen bring the kids to watch this?

_ Ding! Ding! _

Oh no.

Pain flared in her cheek. Bonquisha had struck her, causing her to stumble back. Shaking her head, she locked eyes with the other woman. Her cheek still stung, but it was bearable. She couldn’t afford to lose focus again. Fixing her stance to better ground herself, she brought her arms up in an effort to protect her face. One hit to the temple with another punch like that, and she’d be down for the count.

“I still think we can talk this out,” she said, doing her best to bob and weave to avoid Bonquisha’s fists.

But Bonquisha still had no interest in talking.

Camille felt her back hit the ropes as she’d been deceived by Bonquisha’s fake out. Her forearms were starting to grow sore, and she could already feel the bruises forming. Still wanting to try to get through to the other woman, she kept dodging as best she could.

“Are you going to fight or just dance around,” Bonquisha taunted.

Not wanting to dig a deeper hole for herself, she kept her mouth shut. Bonquisha was already pissed. She didn’t need to go and make it worse. While Camille kept herself physically fit, she was nowhere near this woman’s level. Bonquisha was built like a brick shithouse.

Bonquisha succeeded in knocking Camille’s arms down, making her face an easy target. Panicking, she ducked down to narrowly avoid a hit to the face. She needed some space from Bonquisha. Thinking fast, she brought her fist up and landed a hit on Bonquisha’s chin. It wasn’t a very hard punch, but it was enough to get the woman to take a couple steps back.

“Now, that’s what I’m talking about.”

Camille could hear the kids cheering for her after that one hit. It made her happy, but she couldn’t linker on it for long. Bonquisha was on the attack again. Bringing her arms up, she felt several consecutive punches on her forearms. Seeing Bonquisha draw her arm back all the way, she quickly ducked down and shot through the gap in her legs.

“What the-Hey!”

Not wanting to give Bonquisha a chance, she quickly stood and gave a quick jab, hitting Bonquisha on her cheek. The kids cheered louder.

“Yeah, Camille! Kick her ass,” Nurf yelled out, showing his support.

Then, everything turned upside down. Camille felt her back hit the floor of the ring as she was tackled. Gasping for breath, she looked up and saw Bonquisha pulling her arm back in preparation for a punch. Her whole face burned with pain as Bonquisha punched her repeatedly. She tried to wiggle her hips to destabilize the woman, but she was pinned. The pain brought on a wave of nausea.

_ Ding! Ding! _

Bonquisha practically jumped off her. Camille rolled onto her side, struggling between taking deep breaths and coughing. There was a muffled voice beside her. Spitting out some blood from her split lip, she turned and looked to the side.

“Max,” she asked, not really hearing herself talk.

Blinking, she shook her head. That was a bad idea.

Camille pushed herself up to a sitting position. She could see Max’s lips moving, but she couldn’t understand what he was saying. He turned and walked over to Bonquisha. As she watched him walk away, her hearing finally came back.

“Bonquisha, this is all my fault. I took Camille’s phone and messaged Jacob. She didn’t have anything to do with it. It wasn’t supposed to go this far,” Max admitted.

Max had had her phone the whole time? Even after their talk, he still didn’t give it back. She thought he’d understood. Did her words mean nothing?

“I’m not gonna let this shit slide a second time.”

Much to Camille’s horror, Bonquisha reached out and grabbed Max. He tried to fight back, but there wasn’t much he could do with the difference in size. She could feel her blood boil as she pushed herself back up to her feet. Her teeth ground together as she took a step closer to the two.

“You put him down right fucking now,” she demanded.

“And what are  _ you _ going to do,” Bonquisha asked with a laugh.

Growling, she ripped the boxing gloves off of her hands. Hunched forward, she glared at the larger woman. Opening her mouth, she let out a grizzly roar. It had been some time since she’d used Kodiak, but it was her best bet at intimidating Bonquisha. Judging by how quickly the woman dropped Max, and the look on her face, it worked.

Roaring again, she advanced on Bonquisha. Then, everything went black.

* * *

Camille shook her head as she felt herself being restrained. Looking around, she could see Quartermaster and Gwen holding her down. Why were they doing that. Confused, she struggled to free herself from their hold. She made eye contact with Gwen, and something seemed to click with the other woman.

“QM, she’s back! Let go.”

Now free, Camille sat up. Her entire body screaming at her to not move.

“What happened? Where’s Bonquisha?”

Everyone seemed to look at each other. It was as if they weren’t sure what to tell her. Had she done something?

“Camille, you-”

“You went apeshit! It was awesome,” Nurf yelled out, interrupting Gwen.

“Yeah, and you were roaring! Like a bear! You’ve got to teach me,” Nikki insisted, rushing to Camille’s side.

Rubbing the back of her neck, she looked at everyone. She had remembered the roaring part. It was only meant to intimidate Bonquisha. Maybe scare her away at most.

“Um, ‘apeshit’,” she asked, hoping someone would clarify.

“That’s actually pretty accurate. Good job, Nurf,” Gwen added, not addressing Camille’s question.

Sighing, Camille struggled with getting to her feet. All the pain was coming back to her, and it was making her feel lightheaded.

“Let me assist you,” Nurf insisted, reaching out to help Camille stand up.

“Thank you. So, I’m only going to ask one more time. What did I do?”

“You went into a barbarian rage and-”

“And you bit her! She was bleeding,” Harrison added, cutting off Nerris.

Absentmindedly, Camille ran her tongue against her teeth.

“Cammie, I think you might’ve also broken something. She said something about going to Sleepy Peak Hospital before she left.”

Camille made a mental note to make an effort to apologize to Bonquisha, but that would have to wait. Right now, she needed to rest.

* * *

Lying in bed was pure bliss. It had felt like the bed was hugging her. Sighing, she allowed herself to relax. Falling asleep wouldn’t be hard for her with how horrible she felt, but she had to wait for Gwen to return and patch her up.

The sound of the creaking door caught her attention.

“What took so long, Gwen,” she complained.

“I’m not Gwen.”

“Oh, Max. What did you need,” she asked, struggling to lean up on her elbows.

He surprised her by rushing over and pushing her back down, but she didn’t argue.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, but she hadn’t been able to catch it.

“Could you say that one more time, Max?”

“I said, I’m sorry,” he repeated, raising his voice substantially.

Against her body’s wishes, she forced herself to turn onto her side to get a better look at him.

“As long as you’ve learned your lesson, I accept your apology.”

“Yeah, I think I did,” he said, looking down at his feet.

Camille was still angry at Max, but she couldn’t find it in herself to hold it against him too much. She’d known going in that he caused trouble. She expected something like this to happen eventually. Hopefully, this would be the last incident of its kind. At least directed at her.

“So, you speak bear? Where’d you learn that shit at?”

“It’s Kodiak, and I learned it at camp, believe it or not.”

“What kind of wacked out camp did you go to,” he asked, bewildered.

“You’d be surprised, Max. You’d be surprised.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was the first fight scene I have written. Ever. I tried to not go into too much detail but still have enough detail so that it wasn't confusing.
> 
> If there's any feedback you'd like to leave, please do so in the comments. While writing is purely a hobby for me right now, I would like to get better in any way that I can.


	9. Midnight Confessions and Cocoa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tired and aching, Camille is woken up by some of the campers in the dead of night. Additionally, she finally gets to meet the infamous Cameron Campbell face to face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is getting posted later in the day than when I wanted to get it up. But it's still Monday! So, that's a win in my book!
> 
> Considering last chapter, I felt that a small ... break was needed. While some people like reading stories that are wall to wall action with things happening constantly, that's not what I'm looking to create here.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Max pointed out, squinting at Camille.

“And you wouldn’t believe me, even if I told you,” she replied.

Max dropped the subject, much to Camille’s surprise. Then again, maybe he had actually learned his lesson about crossing boundaries. She wanted to smile, but there was a guilt in the back of her mind that was nagging at her. Even though Bonquisha had insisted on the fight, she felt bad about losing control of herself like that. Closing her eyes, she groaned. How would she even get in contact with the woman?

“What’s the matter with you? Ya know, other than the agonizing pain that’s engulfing your entire body right now.”

As much as it hurt, Camille couldn’t help but laugh at his remark. It wasn’t a joke. More of a wryly delivered observation, really, but she found it hilarious.

“I’m just thinking about Bonquisha. I want to apologize, but I can’t do that if I can’t actually get in touch with her,” she admitted.

Camille ran her hands down her face, immediately regretting the action. While some of the swelling had reduced, her face still ached. If she were to look in a mirror, she wouldn’t be surprised if she found that a good portion of her face was the color purple.

“David might still have her number in his phone. Could always check,” Max suggested.

“Oh, that’s a good idea-wait. Why would David have Bonquisha’s number?”

“They dated for—I don’t know—two weeks?”

Nodding, she agreed that that would make sense. Only, she found her thoughts screeching to a halt at the new information. Bonquisha had been David’s ex-girlfriend? Her brain was trying to put two and two together, but they just weren’t meshing. She’d heard that opposites attract, but she couldn’t even picture their personalities lining up for a friendship, let alone dating. The thought baffled her.

“Really,” she asked.

In her mind, she could only envision two puzzle pieces trying to come together that didn’t fit.

“Yeah. She broke up with him, though. Said he wasn’t ‘man enough’ for her.”

From what she’d gathered on Bonquisha, that made sense. At least, from their limited interaction that she could remember. With a struggle, she reached out to open the filing cabinet beside the bed. She pulled out David’s phone, glancing over at Max.

“Do you know David’s passcode?”

“Passcode? You really think that idiot would have a passcode?”

Shrugging, Camille unlocked the phone. As Max had implied, there wasn’t any type of passcode to keep anyone that wasn’t David out of the phone. Then, she remembered that she’d actually had a four digit pin to keep people locked out of her own phone. Catching a glimpse of Max out of the corner of her eye, she opened David’s list of contacts. She was shocked to only find a handful of contacts. Bonquisha being at the top.

“So, Max, how did you find my phone?”

“I saw it fall out of your pocket this morning.”

“Second question. My phone has a pin-code, how  _ did _ you bypass that?”

At her continued prodding, Max clammed up. He began to stammer for a moment before turning on his heel. Without looking back, he walked swiftly over to the cabin door.

  
“It’s getting  _ really _ late. Gotta get to bed so I can be well rested for whatever bullshit we’re doing tomorrow. Goodnight!”

* * *

An incessant rapping on the cabin door roused Camille from her repose. She refused to open her eyes. Her entire body was still throbbing with pain. To make matters worse, she could feel the beginnings of a possible migraine stabbing at her head. Gwen could get up and see who was at the door.

Or Gwen could just keep sleeping. That woman was as helpful as ever.

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” she called out, forcing herself out of bed despite every fiber of her being screaming in protest.

Her movements to the door were slow and careful due to the aching she could feel deep in her bones. The knocking had continued, but at a less demanding pace than what had initially woke her. Unable to see her path clearly in the dark, Camille found herself colliding with what felt like a chair. Cursing, she pushed it to the left, feeling it hit something.

_ Clank! _

Hearing something fall, she squinted in the direction she thought the sound came from. Camille could just barely make out David’s desk in the dark. A slight movement caught her eye. Reaching out, she placed her hand on the item to set it right, but her attention was drawn back to the knocking. She decided to pick it up and take it with her. It could be returned to the desk on her way back to bed.

“Alright, alright. That’s enough knocking,” she said as she stood in front of the closed door.

Much to her relief, the knocking finally ceased. Forcing a small smile, she opened the door. Having expected to only see a single camper, she was surprised to see half the camp standing outside. Her smile fell out of shock, but she quickly pulled the facade back up. She really didn’t have the energy to handle this many children at once, but what else could she do? Wake up Gwen? Absolutely not.

She looked down at the five of them. Preston, Nikki, Dolph, Nerris, and, surprisingly, Ered.

Camille opened her mouth to ask what was wrong, but they all began spouting off their problems at the same time. With one hand propping herself against the doorway, she brought her other hand to rub her eyes, but she’d forgotten that she was holding something. Looking at it, she found it to be a mug. Turning it over in her hand she gave a small chuckle at the script on the side.

“Number one counselor,” she muttered under her breath, the words leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

Turning her eyes back to the kids, she smiled sadly at them. In their current state, they didn’t even notice her temporary inattention. She glanced back at Gwen’s sleeping figure, surprised that the kids’ rambling hadn’t woke her up. Her eyes drifted from Gwen, to the mug, and then to the kids. Stepping forward, she allowed the cabin door shut behind her. Ignoring the feeling of the dirt and rocks beneath her bare feet, she started walking, motioning the children to follow her.

“Let’s go talk in the mess hall so we don’t wake anyone else up. Sound good?”

* * *

Getting all the kids in the mess hall hadn’t been too difficult. They were all visibly upset still. Some more than others. Talking just wasn’t going to cut it.

“I want to help you guys, but I can’t listen to you all at the same time. So-”

A ladder hit the ground behind Camille. Knitting her eyebrows together, she turned around just in time to see Cameron Campbell climbing down from what she assumed to be the attic. He was only in his underwear.

“Cameron Campbell,” Camille yelled, quickly getting his attention.

“I’m not doing illegal things! You can’t prove-oh. It’s just the kids and-wait a second. Who are you?”

“I’m Camille, and  _ you _ are going to go put on some fucking pants!”

“You’re not the boss of-”

“Now,” she commanded, making it clear that it wasn’t up for debate.

Cameron squinted at her before turning around and climbing back up to the attic. Crossing her arms over her chest, Camille waited patiently for him to climb back down. She sighed, thankful to see him returning with more clothes on than he’d had prior. Once he met her gaze, she fixated a glare on him.

“It’s a summer camp, Cameron. There are children. You can’t just go gallivanting around in your underwear! Do you want to become a registered offender, Cameron?”

He rolled his eyes at her, making it blatant that he believed she was overreacting. Shaking her head, she motioned for him to have a seat with the kids. Once he was seated, she turned toward the kitchen.

“Kids, are you alright with letting Cameron keep an eye on you while I make us all some cocoa?”

“I never agreed to-”

“Cocoa sounds delightful,” Preston answered, the other children agreeing.

* * *

With seven steaming cups of cocoa, Camille returned to the dining area. She set down a cup in front of each of the campers. Cameron seemed surprised to be given a mug, but accepted it without question. He brought the drink up to his lips, ignoring the steam that wafted up.

“Now careful, it’s still piping,” she warned as she took a seat.

Cameron made a pained sound, roughly placing his mug down onto the table. It was clear to everyone else that he’d scalded his tongue. Camille shook her head at him. For a man that she’d heard referred to as a “world class manipulator” for most of her life, he was unexpectedly stupid. Sighing, she turned towards the kids, ignoring Cameron’s pain.

  
  


“While our cocoa is cooling, you’re all going to tell me what’s wrong. Nikki, would you like to go first?”

“I had that nightmare again. The one about the most normal day at camp,” Nikki said, looking at her cup of cocoa.

From everything Camille had heard secondhand, as well as what she’d seen, that did seem like something that would be terrifying for the girl. Nikki did come to the camp for adventure, after all. Camille started to reach out to comfort Nikki, but pulled her hand back as the young girl continued to speak.

“But that’s not what upset me. David was there, and he’s not here. I miss David,” she confessed, her eyes tearing up.

“I miss him, too. Where is he? Is he coming back,” Preston interrogated.

“He’s gone, and it’s not cool anymore,” Ered added, Dolph and Nerris nodding in agreement.

“Wait, David is gone,” Cameron asked, sounding almost concerned.

Camille whipped her head around to look at him. Had he seriously not been aware that David was missing? Did Gwen not tell him? No, that wasn’t something that Gwen would keep to herself. It was much more likely that Gwen wasn’t able to find him that first day. But that still didn’t explain how the man hadn’t noticed David had been missing for five days. Or was it six? Pushing aside her growing anger, Camille looked back at the campers.

“I’m going to tell you kids the truth. You deserve to know. We don’t know where David is, or if he’s coming back. Sal was supposed to call me and bring down the paperwork to file for a missing person yesterday, but that didn’t happen.”

“Because of the Bonquisha Incident,” Nerris asked.

“The Bon-,” she started to question before thinking better of it, “yes, Nerris.  _ That. _ Because of that Sal is bringing the paperwork today. Normally this kind of thing is done sooner, but we can’t really leave you kids unsupervised to do it.”

“Why don’t we go look for him,” Nikki suggested.

Camille found her want to help endearing, but it just wasn’t feasible.

“Nikki, you kids could barely handle the short hike we went on the other day,” she pointed out.

“That hike was short,” Preston exclaimed in disbelief.

“I promise you that I’m doing all that I can to get David back. Now, you guys should drink your cocoa before it gets cold.”

The conversation stopped as everyone sipped from their mugs. Camille closed her eyes as she drank her own cocoa. Out of habit, she’d made it the only way she drank it. Hopefully, the children wouldn’t mind the difference. It was certainly still sweet enough. Still tasted the same as she remembered it being made when she was little.

“This isn’t what I expected,” Ered commented, breaking the silence.

Curious, Cameron brought his mug back to his lips, not having been able to actually taste it the first time. He took a careful sip, not wanting to burn his tongue a second time. His eyes widened in recognition at the flavor.

“It’s still cocoa, but it’s got cinnamon, nutmeg, and-”

“Molasses,” Cameron finished.

Nodding, Camille gave the man a small smile.

“It tastes like the gingerbread man,” Dolph chimed in, bringing a chuckle out of Camille.

Camille hadn’t really assuaged their concern and fear, but she had managed to bring them some comfort. While some adults would prefer to make a promise that everything would turn out alright, Camille wasn’t like that. In her experience, promises were oftentimes hollow and went unfulfilled. She wasn't going to do that to these kids.

“You guys good to head back to sleep,” she asked.

They all nodded. Feeling herself yawn, Camille stood up. She motioned for the kids to get up as well.

“Let’s get you all back to bed. Cameron here will clean up.”

“I never agreed to that!”

“Yeah, and I never asked. Now do it.”

All the kids shared a laugh at Cameron’s misery as he grumbled to himself. Camille nudged the children toward the door, looking back at Cameron. He was picking up the mugs, grumpy until he picked up the one she’d been using. The look on his face seemed almost fond as he looked at the cup. His face morphed into one of concern as he turned it over in his hands, reading the words on the side.

Camille’s eyebrows knit together before she shook her head. He was a horrible person. She knew that. It was what her parents had told her over and over again.

But maybe he wasn’t as bad as they said. Maybe he was capable of caring about more than just himself.

Maybe.

* * *

Despite the ache and exhaustion that filled her, Camille found herself lying awake in bed. She pulled out her phone, only to sigh at the lack of notifications. Thanks to Max, she’d been able to get Bonquisha’s phone number. Even after hours there still wasn’t any response to the texts she’d sent. Not that she really blamed the woman.

Still restless, she looked through her phone apps. She glared at the Tinder icon when she ran across it. Not only had she downloaded the app at Gwen’s behest, but now she had an actual negative experience associated with it. She hadn’t even really used it, and only purchased the Tinder Plus subscription to get rid of ads. Her anger flared up as she remembered the man. What was his name again? Jacob?

Opening the app, she went directly to her messages after some minor struggles. There was only one message thread. Sitting up, she entered the thread and began to furiously type out a message about how shitty she thought Jacob was. Camille had even gone so far as to hoping he got hit in the face with a chair again. Once she hit send, she let herself fall back to the bed. She felt a little better, but the need to fiddle with something was still present.

Exiting her messages she went to the discovery section of the app. Holding the phone in her right hand, she began to go on a swiping spree. All to the left. Camille wasn’t very particular about what she liked or disliked. She just knew that none of these people were what Gwen would refer to as her “type”. Swiping left once more, her eyes widened at the profile that popped up next. Her phone slipped out of her hand and landed on her face.

In slight panic, she picked her phone back up. Rubbing her nose, she looked at the screen. The profile wasn’t there anymore. Her eyebrows knit together. Had she imagined it? Was she so tired that she was starting to see things that weren’t there? It had seemed so real.

Shaking her head, Camille set her phone on top of the filing cabinet beside the bed. Turning over, she closed her eyes to sleep, but opened them a second later. Reaching toward the headboard, she pulled the pillow out from under her own to put it on top. Closing her eyes again, she drifted off to sleep, burying her face in the pine scented pillow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I had to rush to write it because I'm a big dumb that procrastinated most of the week away and then had to focus on other things for, like, two days.
> 
> Writing children isn't easy, but I'm trying to be as realistic as possible to do these kids justice. It's common for children to enjoy a break from authority figures, initially. After the novelty wears off, they find that they miss that authority figure. Not necessarily the authority that they have, but the figure themselves.
> 
> I'm trying my best to convey this now with the campers that I believed to be the most likely to be open about missing David.
> 
> There were also some hints to things that will be brought back up later in the story! I won't tell you if you're right, but feel free to leave guesses in the comments if you'd like!


	10. Return to the Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After finding a stray Flower Scout, Camille “volunteers” to return her to her proper camp. Only, when she gets there she’s met with a familiar face she hasn’t seen in years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good news! I'm alive! Bad news! This chapter is a whole week late due to a combination of procrastination and real world responsibilities!

Light shone in through the cabin window as the sun made its daily ascension, rousing Camille from her sleep. A minute past as she lied there, unmoving. Ten more ticked by. Her eyes were still clenched shut and arms pinned to the bed by an invisible weight. The blinding rays that rested on her eyelids went ignored in favor of something just as unrelentingly harsh.

There was pain. Everywhere.

Camille wouldn't be surprised if she found her entire body engulfed by actual flames. Each new breath stabbed her lungs. Her head and eyes throbbed, worsening at the slightest of movements. Even her fingernails hurt. She couldn't recall having experienced this level of suffering in years. Thirteen, to be exact.

But she couldn't let it get the best of her.

Her tolerance for pain wasn't higher or lower than what she considered average. She certainly couldn't be called pain-resistant with how long she had allowed herself to remain in bed. No, Camille was pain-defiant.

"I don't remember it hurting this much last night," she cursed under her breath, struggling to push herself up.

How was she to do anything when something as simple as sitting upright left her winded?

"You've had worse. You got this. You got this."

Camille continued to mutter self assurances while forcing herself to stand. Wanting to keep her momentum, she began stepping toward the door. Before she could get far, darkness consumed her peripherals. She closed her eyes and shook her head, hoping in vain that it would clear her vision. Only, when she opened them, the floor was closer. Too close. Unable to catch herself, she managed to turn her head to the side. Due to her current pain, the impact didn't fully register.

"What the fuck was that," Gwen exclaimed, jolting up in her bed.

The only answer she received was Camille groaning from her place on the floor.

Being a good friend, Gwen got up to help. Still being a good friend, she laughed at Camille's misfortune all the while.

"How'd you get down there, Cammie?"

"This is kinda what happens when you fall, Gwen."

"Snippy today, aren't we? Damn, Cammie. You look like shit," she commented while helping her friend off the floor.

"I feel like shit, too. Ugh, I'd at least feel better if someone had woken up instead of me to help those campers last night," she said, fixing a halfhearted glare on Gwen.

Yet, her best friend didn't meet her gaze, or even respond.

"Don't you dare tell me that you woke up last night."

"Alright. I won't tell you that."

"Oh, you bitch. You're dead to me."

* * *

The two camp activities for the day weren't demanding. Making crystals and costume design. Camille didn't have much of anything to do. Not really. Gwen had even volunteered to take the lead for the day. She guessed that Gwen felt guilty about playing pretend last night. So, it  _ should _ be an easy enough day.

"All in favor of making crystals after breakfast, and costume design after lunch, raise your hand," Camille called out, lazily sipping her coffee.

Glancing around, she counted eight hands raised. Ered very clearly didn't care about the order they did anything in. Preston, however, cared a great deal. It didn't surprise her that the boy wanted to do his chosen activity first.

"Glad we got that settled. We can check on the crystals' progress after dinner. Sound good?"

Camille waited until she got affirmation from the campers to continue speaking.

"Since we don't want any wild animals in the chemicals or making off with the fabric, today's activities are happening right here."

"Fabric? I thought we were just drawing," asked Dolph.

"The fabric is mostly for Preston. I mean, it's Preston," Gwen answered, everyone nodding in understanding.

Gwen left the mess hall to get what they needed out of the quartermaster store next door while Camille kept an eye on the kids. She sat there, coffee finished, tapping at the table in front of her. Waiting for Gwen to come back, and waiting for Sal to get there.

Hearing the mess hall doors opening perked her back up. She looked up to see Gwen with her arms full. Ignoring the ache in her ankles, Camille got up to offer some assistance.

"I got this, Cammie. Sal's waiting outside. He hates coming out here, so hurry I'd up."

Camille nodded and rushed out the door, leaving Gwen with the kids. Gwen unloaded everything on an empty table. With some of the campers still eating, they had time to set everything up. Not that it would take long.

"Gwen, I'm going to the bathroom," Neil called out as he left the mess hall.

* * *

"Thank you for taking time out of your day to come down here, Sal. Sorry about the, um, platypus," Camille apologized, said animal squirming for freedom in her gasp.

"You're just lucky I can't write you a ticket for that.  _ Yet _ ," he said in warning.

Camille watched as he drove off, part of his torn pant leg stuck in the car door. She looked down at the platypus, glad to see that it had finally given up fighting her hold. Shaking her head, she began walking back toward the mess hall. How did they get a wild animal as a camp mascot? Gwen didn't have much information on the subject, and, by extension, neither did Camille. Then again, did she truly want to know?

Close to the mess hall, she started hearing cries for help. They sounded like they were coming from the activities field. Dropping the platypus, she rushed over. When she arrived, she spotted Neil. He was in distress. Warranted distress considering a girl was dragging him away by his ankles. Given the fight he was putting up, the two weren't going very far.

Sighing, Camille walked up to the two. Without saying anything, she grabbed the girl and pulled her off of Neil. As she did so, she noticed something about the girl's clothes, as well as the eye patch she was sporting. She was wearing a uniform, and, unfortunately, Camille recognized it.

"Unhand me you skank," the small girl demanded as Neil ran off.

"Where are the other scouts," she interrogated, choosing to overlook the insult.

"I, like, literally don't know what the fuck you're talking about!"

"Flower Scouts travel as a pack. So, where are the others?"

"No one wanted to come with me. So, I came alone, duh. Now release me!"

"Oh no. You're coming with me. And stop struggling or I'll throw you into the lake," she threatened, heading towards the mess hall.

"Um, I, like, can't swim."

"We both know that's bullshit. Flower Scouts' annual synchronized swimming competition," she said, voice taut.

"Oooh, right. I, like, completely forgot about ... hold up! How-"

"Gwen," Camille called out as they entered the mess hall, "we got a trespasser."

Only, the other woman didn't seem too surprised. Either Gwen had seen this coming, or Neil spilled the beans on Camille's behalf. Probably both. Although, she found herself stumped as to why Gwen was looking at her with a finger pressed to her nose.

* * *

Camille grumbled to herself as she begrudgingly continued to paddle in toward the Flower Scout camp. At first, Tabii silently sat in the boat while Camille did all the work but had since started talking. Tabii prattled on and on. As to what Tabii was saying, Camille wasn't certain. The girl had a talking speed that fluctuated from dawdling to hasty with no in between. All she understood was two names that Tabii kept mentioning. While it had been annoying, the nonstop talking had been a welcome distraction from the stretch of water below them.

"Would you look at that, Tabii. We're here," she exclaimed.

Finally.

With the boat tied to the dock, Camille helped Tabii climb out. Camille then climbed out herself. She ensured that the boat was tied securely before following Tabii off the dock. Two girls were standing at the shore, waiting.

"Tabii, seriously, where the fuck were you," one of them demanded.

That one had to be Sasha, which meant the other one was Erin.

"Well, I  _ was _ trying to kidnap Neil. I wanted revenge, duh. He can't talk to me and Erin like that and get away with it!"

"Oh my god, Tabii. That is, like, so sweet of you," Erin said.

"Tabii, we can talk about your retarded ass idea later. We have a meeting right now," Sasha said with a flip of her hair.

While the three girls talked, this was as good a time as any to leave. Camille set out to return Tabii to the appropriate camp and did just that. So, she felt well within her right to leave.

"There you girls are. Garden Mommy has a wine headache and can't … Girls, you didn't mention a guest."

Camille froze mid-step. Since the start of helping at Camp Campbell, nothing had gone exactly as planned. It really shouldn't have surprised her that today would keep the trend going. Putting a smile on her face, she pivoted toward the Garden mother to speak. Only, Camille's mouth hung open, no words escaping. Closing her mouth, she ran her eyes over the other woman.

"Miss Priss," she asked, eyebrows pulling together.

Despite her questioning tone, Camille knew that the woman that stood before her was in fact one Miss Penelope Priss. Camille found the likeness too uncanny to be a coincidence. That, and the woman's use of "Garden Mommy" to refer to herself put the final nail in the coffin for Camille.

"Yes? Do I know you?"

Right. It had been a while since they last saw one another. What did Camille expect? Priss not recognizing her made sense. Giving Priss a small smile, readying herself to make an excuse on the spot.

But that wouldn't be necessary.

"Wait a second. Cammie," Priss gasped.

Ignoring the girls' questioning stares, Camille replied with a nod. Only after Priss rushed over and pulled her into a crushing hug did she realize she'd only sealed her fate.

"Oh, it’s been ages! We have so much to catch up on, Cammie! Girls, reschedule the meeting for tomorrow."

As Priss dragged her further into the camp, Camille tried and failed to manage a word in edgewise. Due to the events of yesterday, she didn't have the energy or strength to pull herself from Priss's hold. She resigned herself to whatever Priss had in store. Gwen would be alright if she stayed just a bit longer. The day's activities weren't strenuous, after all.

Everything should be fine.

Right?

* * *

Miss Priss had insisted on Camille staying for brunch. Then, she insisted that she stay for lunch. With how excited Priss was to see her, Camille couldn't find it in herself to say no. Although, the near constant vibration coming from her pocket was starting to give her some incentive.

"Miss Priss-"

"How many times do I have to tell you to call me ‘Penny', Cammie?"

"Right. Penny, I should head out. This was great, really, but I have a camp I need to get back to."

"I always wanted you to return as a Garden Mother, you know. Though, I can't say it surprises me that you ended up at Camp Campbell," Priss admitted, gesturing at the uniform shirt Camille was wearing.

"What do you mean?"

Penny only shook her head, making it clear she wasn't going to answer.

"Could you stay just a teensy bit longer, Cammie? I asked the girls to pull out the old scrapbook. We could take a trip down memory lane over some tea."

Camille pulled her phone out, glancing at the screen before grimacing.

"I'm not sure-"

"The girls would greatly appreciate it."

Sighing, she pocketed her phone. She turned back to Penny and smiled.

"I suppose one cup couldn't hurt."

* * *

Camille was on her third cup of tea, listening to Penny tell the girls stories. The current tale was about cookie sales whenever she was still a scout. She found herself laughing in between sips of her tea.

"Not only did she outsell all the girls of her own troop and the others, but she did so single-handed. Suzie Mendez wished her troop was as good as mine."

"Penny, you're exaggerating. Except for the part about Suzie. That was true."

"Don't listen to her, Girls. Cammie was ruthless and fierce. She could have sold a man his own shirt if she wanted," Penny insisted.

"That's not exactly a good thing, Penny," she muttered, flipping through the scrapbook for a new subject.

A series of photos caught her eye. They were all essentially the same photo. Young Camille was standing to one side holding a wooden trophy while a grumpy, red headed boy from Camp Campbell stood next to her. In total, four pictures had that same composition.

"Look, here, Girls. Thanks to Camille, our troop won the Camporee four years in a row!"

Penny continued to tell the girls more while Camille pulled the scrapbook closer to her. Setting her cup of tea down, she looked at the photos. She smiled as she looked at them. Her Flower Scout years were fun. Although, she remembered the shared events as the most fun. Lost in thought, Camille didn't notice Penny leaning in closer.

"Remember your rivalry? It was cute," she commented, surprising Camille.

"Cute? You cannot be serious, Penny. Davey  _ hated _ me."

"Then why did he ask you to dance at the Lake Lilac Summer Social, Cammie," Penny asked, flipped to the next page.

Camille looked down at the page to see a picture of her and Davey dancing. Not only that, but they were laughing. She rolled her eyes.

"If I remember correctly, you had this brilliant idea to start a dance competition at the only noncompetitive event among the camps. We were the only ones left without partners and you lumped us together."

"You two had fun, even though you didn't win the competition."

Camille rolled her eyes a second time and pulled the picture out of its slot on the page. She wanted to say it was because they kept stepping on each other's feet, but she didn't. Looking closer at the picture, she smiled.

"Why don't you keep that," Penny suggested.

Not allowing her to argue, Penny insisted she take it. Camille nodded and carefully pocketed the photo. She didn't have mementos from camp. After her last year in the scouts, her parents had donated most of what she had, and anything left was trash.

"You've made me proud, Cammie. You turned into a fine young lady. Can't say the same for the other girls from your troop."

Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. When was the last time someone said that? She couldn't remember. Blinking back the tears, she pulled Penny into a quick hug. Before she could move too far back, Penny pulled her back into the hug.

"It was good seeing you, Cammie."

"You, too, Penny. You too."

Penny and the Flower Scouts walked with Camille back to the dock. Just as she was easing herself into the boat, Penny spoke up.

"Now, you're just across the lake. So, don't be a stranger. Also, we need to go get celebratory drinks when you take over your parents' company."

Camille laughed and nodded. She began rowing away, stopping only to wave one last farewell. Penny and the girls watched as she disappeared from sight.

  
"Hold up! You mean to tell me that  _ she _ is rich," Sasha yelled.

* * *

Saying Gwen was upset would be a gross understatement. She was pissed and made that fact very clear. Camille's multiple apologies seemed to sate her friend. For now, at least. With the final activity and dinner both wrapped up, Camille asked Nurf to escort the other campers back to their tents while she and Gwen cleaned up. He immediately agreed to do it, which surprised both women.

Neither of them were willing to risk opening the metaphorical horse's mouth, though.

"Hey, Cammie," Gwen started, walking over as Camille began putting away the dishes, "I'm going out tonight. XxAsianAnimeBoyxX agreed to meet up so he could look over a new fic I'm working on."

"That's fine. When are you leaving?"

"Right now."

"Oh, um, have fun, I guess."

Camille returned to putting the clean dishes away. She could hear Gwen driving off. Giving the kitchen and dining area a once over, she deemed everything to be clean enough. After leaving the mess hall, she headed back to the cabin. The closer she got, she could hear the sound of shuffling coming from inside. Knitting her eyebrows together, she quickened her pace.

With the campers in bed, and Gwen gone, who could it be? Camille didn't think it was Cameron or Quartermaster, shady as they were. She didn't trust Cameron to not snoop through her or Gwen's belongings, but he seemed too lazy to put in that kind of effort. As for Quartermaster, he obviously had no respect for boundaries, but the two of them had come to an agreement.

"Please be the platypus. Please be the platypus," she mumbled.

Hands shaking, she yanked the door open and entered. Her eyes widened as she spotted none other than Max digging through her suitcase. Alerted by the creaky door, he stared at her. He looked like a deer caught in headlights. Camille sighed and ran her hands down her face. This was the final flourish for her day it seemed.

"Max, what are you doing?"

"Well, I'm definitely not looting through your suitcase in the hopes of finding some dark secret because I've exhausted all other resources at my disposal. Definitely not that."

The muscle underneath her eye started to twitch in response. She sighed and walked over while rubbing her temples. It took most of her willpower to not yell at him. Her migraine had finally disappeared, and she didn't want to risk bringing it back.

"Max, if you wanted to know me better, you could've just asked."

He opened his mouth, she assumed, to retort, but a shrill cry cut through the air instead. They both jumped out of reflex at the noise. Max looked up at her with wide eyes.

  
"What the fuck was  _ that _ ," he asked, a hint of fear lacing his voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading!


	11. Step in the Right Direction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camille and Max find the source of the noise. Quartermaster takes the day off, and Gwen gets hit with purple paint.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise, surprise! You get a second chapter because I felt like a failure and wanted to make up for the lack of updates! After this we will return to our regularly scheduled once a week update.

Everything was too perfect to possibly be real. It was incredibly dark outside. Almost as if the night’s shadows had advanced beyond their normal level. Even the moon was covered in clouds. The shrill cries that grew louder with each step only heightened the foreboding atmosphere of the forest. Yet, Camille couldn’t be bothered to feel scared. If she had a horror movie checklist, all the boxes would be ticked off. In fact, she found the whole thing laughable.

The only thing that kept her from laughing was Max. He was following close behind her and shaking like a leaf.

“You should’ve stayed in the cabin like I told you to,” she gently chided.

“And leave you to take on what is probably an ax-wielding murderer? Nuh uh, you’ve got the only phone in camp right now,” he argued, teeth chattering slightly.

Camille sighed and stopped walking, causing Max to bump into the back of her legs. Ignoring the protest of her legs, she knelt down in front of him. She put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes.

“Max, I didn’t let Bonquisha hurt you, and I’m sure as  _ shit _ not going to let some ax-wielding murderer do it either. Okay?”

After receiving a nod from Max, she stood back up. Before continuing forward, she held her hand out for him to take.

“Take my hand. It’s extra dark out tonight, and I don’t want us getting separated.”

Once his hand was in her’s, she started to lead them forward again. Despite having thought they were getting closer, the sound wasn’t getting louder anymore. Just as they’d thought they lost it, the crying increased in volume and frequency once more. They were close.

“Now, on the off chance that this  _ is _ some serial killer or whatever, I’d want you to take my phone, high tail it back to camp, and not look back.”

Max looked up at her in surprise. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but no words came out. Instead, he quietly nodded in agreement as they continued walking.

Camille shined the flashlight ahead of them. The beam of light caught some movement. Changing the angle, they found out what was making all the noise. Several feet away from them was a fox with one of its forelegs caught in a bear trap. She stood there, chewing on the end of her thumb and thinking.

“We’re gonna help it, right?”

“We are Max, but …”

“But ... what?”

“It’s not going to be easy,” she answered, only a single plan coming to mind.

“Since when is anything easy,” Max asked rhetorically, his tone reflecting his lightened mood.

For a moment, she continued to stand there. Her head bobbed from side to side as she weighed the positives and negatives for her sole idea. Regardless, her further contemplation was only wasting time. Given the placement of the bear trap, two people were needed to free the fox. Well, unless someone really wanted to risk getting their face bit off by a frightened and injured animal. Camille wasn’t that someone, and she was willing to bet Max wasn’t either.

“Well, we’ve only got one option on how to do this. I need you to trust me that I’m not going to let it bite you.”

“I think I’ve got some trust I can spare,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders and not meeting her eyes.

* * *

There were four types of news, as far as Camille was concerned. Good news, better news, bad news, and worse news. The good news? They had managed to free the fox. Better news? Max got away bite free. Bad news? Camille didn’t. Worse news? The fox was too hurt to move very far. If they just left them as is, they likely wouldn’t survive too much longer than the night.

Watching the fox plop over on the ground in defeat made her heart hurt. She glared down at the bear trap before kicking the spring and making it snap shut again. Words were going to be had with both Cameron and Quartermaster. Though, out of the two, she felt the trap was likely Quartermaster’s doing. Cameron probably wasn’t legally allowed to own bear traps, or something similar.

“What are we going to do now,” Max asked.

And her brain was continuing its trend of only coming up with a single plan of action. Hopefully, she wouldn’t get bit a second time. Or a third, for that matter.

* * *

If a month ago someone, anyone, had told Camille that she would be carrying an injured wild animal, she would’ve laughed in their face. Yet here she was, actually carrying a wounded fox to the counselors’ cabin. Reaching the cabin, Max was kind enough to hold the door open for her. She thanked him before stepping inside. Carefully, she put the fox down on her temporary bed.

“Max, would you get me the-”

Before she could finish, Max was holding the first aid kit out to her. Taking it, she thanked him. After setting the kit on the bed, she took a look at her bare arms. Her eyes flickered from her arms, to the fox, and back to her arms. Nodding to herself, she quickly crouched down and pulled her suitcase out from under the bed frame, making sure to lean away in case the fox felt snappy. Unzipping the suitcase, she dug through the contents before pulling out a light yellow hoodie and putting it on.

Camille stood back up and nudged her suitcase back under the bed with her foot. She noticed the questioning look Max was giving her and shot him one of her own.

“What? I’m protecting my arms.”

“Is yellow your favorite color or something,” he asked, gesturing at her hoodie and the ribbon holding her ponytail.

“Or something,” she answered playfully.

* * *

Fortunately, Camille was able to wrap the fox’s leg, as well as her own arm, without incident. Unfortunately, there wasn’t really anywhere that they could keep the fox. Gwen would shit a brick if they left the fox in the cabin. The mess hall was also not on the table considering Cameron slept in the attic. She couldn’t let the fox stay with the kids or in her car. Someone or something would get hurt.

“Why don’t we keep him in the amphitheater,” Max suggested.

“That … that actually might work. There’s just one problem.”

“Preston?”

“Preston.”

Since the fox was lucky enough to not have a broken bone, he would probably be alright after a few days, or even a week. That really was the problem, though. Keeping Preston away from the amphitheatre for any amount of time was a struggle. If there wasn’t a meal, or a scheduled activity, that’s where he was. It’s where he spent his free time.

“What if we give him the idea to write a play for the camp? That’ll keep him busy in his tent for a while.”

“That’s a great idea, Max, but are you really willing to be in his play?”

“I never said anything about actually doing the stupid play.”

She shouldn’t have found his blunt admission as funny as she did.

* * *

Max had done it. By the end of breakfast, Preston was in a writing frenzy. Camille didn’t know how he did it, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. If he was going to continue to be distracted, they might not have much of a choice but to exempt him from the day’s activities. Although, she couldn’t forget what she’d said just earlier that week about those that didn’t participate.

“Hey you. Ponytail. Taking a day off,” came the gruff voice of Quartermaster.

Camille jumped, startled by the strange, old man. She watched him walk out of the mess hall. Well, that solved one problem, but created another. Well, a couple, actually. With Quartermaster gone, who was going to watch any kids that decided they wanted to sit out for one or both activities?

The sound of a ladder hitting the wooden floor behind her broke her thoughts.Turning around, she noticed Cameron climbing down from the attic. In his underwear. Again. Pinching the bridge of her nose, she called out to him. His eyes met hers in alarm. Giving him a sharp look, she pointed up towards the attic. He groaned and rolled his eyes, but climbed back up. When he came back down, she grabbed and pulled him to stand with her in front of the campers.

“Since Quartermaster decided to take a, uh, day off, Cameron here is going to be his sub. So, anyone that doesn’t want to participate will be left with him.”

“I never agreed to-”

Camille cut Cameron off by shoving her elbow into his side.

“I can live with that,” Preston called out, expressing his want to be absent from both activities.

With seemingly everything taken care of, Camille motioned for everyone to head to the activities field for painting. Only after they left did she remembered the last problem with Quartermaster taking the day off. She had to take care of both lunch and dinner for the day. As she left the mess hall, she contemplated if she could possibly convince Gwen to help with the dishes.

* * *

Painting was going smoothly. Aside from some of the campers getting covered head to toe in paint. Nurf had decided that it would be a good idea to paint the outside of Space Kid’s helmet. Soon, Nikki was calling out for a paint fight. Which mostly just consisted of everything throwing paint at one another. In the beginning, Dolph had been upset about the waste of paint, but then he started to have fun. Neither Camille nor Gwen felt the need to stop them. No one was getting hurt.

Watching the chaos, Camille noticed that someone was missing. Someone other than Preston. She leaned over to Gwen and whispered about Max being gone. Immediately, Gwen was ready to hunt the boy down. Laughing, Camille suggested that Gwen keep an eye on the chaos, stating that she’d go find him.

“So, you’ll put in the effort to go find the brat, and I get to stand and watch the kids shove paint in eachothers faces? I’m not gonna fight you on that.”

There wasn’t going to be much effort. She already knew where he was. Where she hoped that he was. Leaving the activities field, she headed toward the amphitheater. A minute later she heard Gwen yelling at the kids.

“Which one of you little shits threw purple at me?!”

* * *

Max had taken advantage of the chaos on the activities field to escape the activities field. Before heading to the amphitheater, he made a pit stop at the mess hall. Preston and Cameron were still in the dining area, but neither paid him any mind. He was able to walk into the kitchen and get whatever he wanted without being stopped even once. With a bowl of water, he left the mess hall and made his way to the amphitheater.

Reaching his destination, he made his way back stage to where he and Camille had put the injured fox. The fox was lying down on a makeshift bed of leftover fabric from yesterday. Warmth filled his chest at seeing the fox’s tail wag as he approached. Pushing his excitement down, he continued to walk slowly. Once he was close enough, she sat down and pushed the bowl of water toward the fox.

“You need a name or something,” he said, watching the fox lap at the water.

The wood of the stage groaned under the weight of footsteps. Max whipped around to see who was there. A hand pulled the curtain to the side. Seeing that it was only Camille, Max let himself relax. He glared at her putting him on edge.

“You couldn’t have, like, called out for me or some shit,” he asked, agitated.

Camille just smiled and plopped down to his right. She turned toward him to say something, but stopped when she noticed his hand that was closest to her. Reaching out, she grabbed his hand to get a better look. Shaking her head, she released his hand.

“Guess you were the one that nailed Nikki in the back of the head, huh?”

“Yeah. What of it?”

“Oh, nothing. It’s just … you could say that I-”

Max’s eyes widened. He knew what she was going to say.

“No, no, no, no, no! Don’t you fucking dare!”

“-caught you  _ red handed _ ,” she finished, giving him a shit-eating grin.

Max groaned and rolled his eyes. He even gave her a shove, calling her and her joke stupid. But he still smiled and laughed with her. Seeing Max laughing and smiling settled something for her. Out of all the campers, he was officially her favorite. She knew that picking favorites wasn’t good, but he’d wormed his way into her heart faster than the others.

“So, how’s our patient doing,” she asked, holding her hand out for the fox to sniff.

Camille smiled at the fox as it sniffed her hand, his wet nose cold on her skin. She retracted her hand, seeing if he might get up to follow her movement. He only leaned forward, still lying down.

“Still not enough energy to get up, huh? Let’s get you some food and see if that changes anything,” she said, standing up.

On her feet, she held her hand out in an offer to help Max get up if he needed it. He ignored her gesture and stood up on his own.

“We should name him,” Max said, breaking the silence between them.

“He’s a wild animal, Max. We can’t give him a name.”

At her answer, he went silent. When they reached the mess hall, he asked if he could get something out of the Quartermaster store. Not sensing anything strange about his request, she told him that it would be fine. When she came back out of the mess hall with some fish for the fox, Max wasn’t in sight. He wasn’t outside the mess hall, and he wasn’t inside the Quartermaster store. Regardless of whether he’d headed back to the amphitheater or not, she had to return to feed the fox. If Max wasn’t there she’d just have to find him.

* * *

“Max … why does the fox-”

“His name is David.”

“Why does David have a bandana-”

Camille stopped talking once she’d realized what she’d said. She took in a deep breath and set the fish down for the fox to eat. With that done, she turned to give Max her full and undivided attention.

“Max, we  _ just _ talked about this. We can’t name him. He’s a wild animal. Realistically we shouldn’t even be taking care of him at all.”

“Yeah, but-”

“And why did you put a bandana on him, Max? He could have bitten you for getting too close. Wait, did he bite you, Max,” she asked, now concerned and reaching out for him.

Max batted her hands away from him. He looked up at her and stomped on the floor, hands clenched at his sides. The sudden change in his attitude startled her, making her take a single step back to give him space. She looked down at him and kept her mouth shut. If he wanted to say something, she was going to give him the opportunity to do it.

“Just forget it,” he said, quickly brushing passed her.

Camille turned around to stop him, but he’d already disappeared behind the curtain. She put her face in her hands and dropped down to a crouch. This was the second time she’d messed up with him. Every step forward seemed to result in an immediate two backwards. What was she supposed to do?

Something gripped the back of her shirt and tugged. Pulling her hands from her face, she pivoted to look behind her. It was the fox, pulling at her shirt with his teeth with his ears pulled back. Seeing her look at him, he released her shirt and made what sounded like a whine. She was happy to see him standing, albeit without the use of his injured leg, but it was a bittersweet moment.

Slowly, she reached her hand out, not wanting to startle him. He stayed where he was, ears facing forward again. Camille. placed her hand atop his head, making gentle stroking motions with her thumb. Sighing, she pulled her hand back and stood. She needed to be getting back. Max might not have gone back to Gwen and the others. She might have to actually look for him. Glancing down at the fox, she smiled and gently nudged him so he would lay back down.

* * *

Max had gone back to the others, which was a relief to Camille. However, he avoided her from that point forward. He wasn’t even being subtle about it. This really frustrated Camille, but she knew better than to try and force him to talk to her.

After a quick lunch, everyone pitched in to clean up the wreck that the activities field had turned into. Camille was thankful she’d had the foresight to suggest laying down a tarp and that Gwen had the good sense to listen. With the activities field in order, compared to its previous state, Gwen and the campers left to clean up before reconvening at the lake. Being paint free, Camille headed to the mess hall. Someone needed to check up on Cameron and Preston, and she figured she might as well get a head start on dinner.

Two birds with one stone.

“You two still doing okay in here,” she called out as she entered.

While she hadn’t expected Preston to answer, she’d hoped that Cameron would’ve said something at least. Only, she was met with silence. Glancing around the dining area, she only spotted Preston with his nose just inches above the paper he was writing on. The pile of crumpled up sheets had turned into a small mountain. Looking the room over again, she still didn’t see Cameron. Deciding to give him the benefit of the doubt, she headed to the kitchen hoping to find him there.

The kitchen was empty and Camille wanted to scream. Her eye twitched as she left the kitchen and walked over to Preston.

“Preston, Sweetie-”

He looked up at her, ready to tell her all about his ideas, but froze upon seeing the thinly veiled anger on her face. Seeing his face change to one of apprehension, she sighed and shook her head. She let her face relax and gave him a tired smile.

“You’re fine, Sweetie. I was just wondering if you might know where Cameron is,” she asked, hoping that the man had at least told Preston something.

“He said something about going to the bathroom, I think?”

Camille hoped for Cameron’s sake that he had gone to the bathroom. Although, she would still have to talk to him about leaving a child unsupervised.

“Alright. Well, I’ll be in the kitchen working on dinner,” she said, heading to the kitchen to leave Preston to his work.

Stepping into the kitchen, she grabbed one of the aprons hanging near the door and tied it around her waist. Quickly perusing the pantry and fridge, she quickly found something that she could make. Classic chicken soup. Surely the kids would appreciate something warm after spending hours in the freezing lake water.

Gathering all the ingredients, she peered out the kitchen window to check on Preston in the dining room. Still absorbed in his writing.

“Preston, Sweetie, are you sure you don’t want to take a break and go swim with the others,” she asked while filling the largest pot she could find with water.

“Yes, I am quite certain. Might I have some juice? Writing has left me utterly parched!”

Hauling the pot of water over to the stove, she put it on the burner. She called out to Preston that she would be there shortly while turning the dial for the stove. Satisfied with her small amount of progress, she grabbed a juice box to take to Preston. Someone stepped into the mess hall just as she exited the kitchen.

“Where’ve you been, Cameron,” she asked, handing the juice box to Preston while keeping her eyes locked on the man.

“Can a man not go to the bathroom around here in peace?”

Camille pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed. Figuring that his question was rhetorical and mostly sarcastic, she decided not to answer him. Instead, she turned back toward the kitchen and motioned for him to follow her. She hadn’t expected him to do it, but she was pleasantly surprised to see him enter the kitchen behind her. Grabbing a second apron, she told him to wash his hands. With his hands clean, she threw the apron at him.

“Chop, chop,” she said, smirking as he handed him some vegetables and a knife.

* * *

Cameron had complained the entire time they cooked, but he did as instructed without arguing. He was actually far more decent in the kitchen than she had expected. With the extra set of hands, she was able to get the soup done faster than she’d anticipated. After turning the heat on the stove down, she looked over at Cameron. Despite not needing it anymore, he still had the apron on.

“I’m going to go check on Gwen, make sure none of the kids have tried to drown her or each other. Make sure nothing catches fire. If I come back and you’re gone  _ again _ ,” she said, intentionally trailing off at the end to let his imagination fill in the blanks.

After one last check on Preston, she was off to the lake. When she got there she could see Gwen and the kids still in the water. The only one that wasn’t in the lake was Max. He was standing on the slightly wet dock and watching everyone. As she got closer, he turned and looked over at her. His expression quickly shifted from annoyance to a blank slate. She approached him regardless.

“Hey, Max-”

He turned his back to her. Frustrated but not giving up, she walked to the other side. He just turned around again. Growling to herself, she walked back around him a second time. She only wanted to apologize, and he was making it a lot harder than it needed to be.

But her foot slipped.

Camille’s heart stopped in her chest as she saw the ever approaching water. At least, that’s what it felt like. Her body froze up as fear took over. The cold water shocked her, making her gasp out of reflex. Heart hammering in her chest, she righted herself in the water as quickly as she could. Hands clung to the side of the dock. Wood dug into her palms, giving her splinters as she practically clawed her way back onto the dock.

On her hands and knees, she closed her eyes and coughed. Taking in deep breaths, her lungs burned. Max looked at Camille with wide eyes. He wasn’t the only one.

“Oh my god, Cammie! Are you okay,,” Gwen called out, concerned for her friend.

Pulling herself up to her feet, Camille gave Gwen a nod and a thumbs up. Hugging herself, she walked off the dock. Seeing a log near the shore, she walked toward it. Still coughing, and now shivering, she took a seat. Staring at the water dripping off her and hitting the ground, she noticed a pair of red sneakers.

“Are you … Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Max,” she answered after taking a deep breath.

Seeing that he was still standing there, she scooted over on the log in a silent invitation for him to sit down. He joined her, fiddling with the ends of his sleeves as he sat there.

“Can you, um, not swim or something,” he asked softly.

Camille looked up from the ground and over at Max. She shifted her gaze from him to look out at the lake. Even in her dazed state, she could hear the other kids laughing as they played in the water. As if nothing happened. Her hold on herself tightened as she took in a shaky breath.

“No, I-I know how to swim. I just-”

A lump formed in her throat, making it hard to speak. Her eyes stung as tears began to well up. Nails digging into her arms, she turned to look at Max.

“It’s stupid.  _ I’m _ stupid. I can swim just fine, but I’ve been terrified of the water since I was nine years old,” she admitted, laughing at herself.

Max reached out and put his hand on her arm, startling her. Camille jumped and looked down at the small hand patting her. Her eyes glanced from Max’s hand to his face. She cracked a small smile, appreciating what appeared to be his best effort at comforting her. Unwrapping her arms from her torso, she held them open and looked at Max.

“Can I have just one hug? They make me feel better.”

He looked over at everyone in the lake. None of them were even looking in their direction. Not even Gwen. Turning back to Camille, he leaned in and gave her a side hug. Feeling a weight on top of his head, he flinched, but relaxed when he remembered that it was just her.

“Thank you, Max. You know, I haven’t even told Gwen that. She just thinks that I can’t swim,” Camille said, wiping away some tears with her free hand.

The silence between them was comfortable. Max still hadn’t pulled away from her, but she wasn’t going to mention it. He might’ve needed a hug just as much as she had. Though, they couldn’t stay like that for long. Soon enough it would be time for dinner. She still had to check on Preston and Cameron and make sure nothing was on fire. Hearing Max call her name, she looked down at him.

“I miss David,” he said, looking down at his lap.

At first, she was confused, but then remembered that he’d named the fox.

“We can go see David after dinner, even bring him some chicken.”

“No, not the fox. I miss  _ David _ . The real one.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Oh, and before I forget! I'm not able to add in all the character interactions in each chapter that I want to. So, to make up for the characterization that is being left out, I've decided I want to make a side work that will consist of the bits and pieces I'm having to leave out!
> 
> The only thing is, consistency would get tossed out with the side work. As in, for word length and updates.
> 
> You can think of them as "deleted scenes", but anything posted will be Phone a Friend canon unless I state otherwise.
> 
> Now, this is something that I do actually want to do, but please do let me know in the comments if you'd be interested in thee extra reading material!


	12. Expecting the Boot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camille returns to the counselors’ cabin to retire for the night, only to discover someone asleep in her temporary bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does take place two weeks after the last one. While that is quite a bit of time to skip ahead, there will be content from that period that I am going to be including in the sort of side series for this story.

Gwen and the campers had already headed in for the night. The day had been hectic, to say the least. After spending the last week perfecting the script Max had inspired him to write, Preston really wanted to actually take it to the stage. He even wanted to show it to the people of Sleepy Peak. Considering the dumpster fire his last play had been, the town’s people were rightfully hesitant. In the end, everyone decided to humor him. Given Max’s initial stance on the play he’d manipulated Preston into writing, his willingness to participate should’ve been a red flag.

Well, now she was mopping up tomatoes from the stage. She couldn’t even remember where things had started to go downhill. Her memory was covered in a blurry red. Not dissimilar to the stage she was cleaning. Camille couldn’t pinpoint what Max had done, or when, but she knew that he was responsible.

Yet, she wasn’t mad. Oh, he was still going to be punished, but that would just have to wait for tomorrow. For now, she was content to mop up the mess her rowdy campers had made. The mop stilled as she let the thought run through her mind once more. Her campers? When did she start thinking of them that way? This whole arrangement was temporary. Even if David never came back, as much as she hoped that wouldn’t be the case, the kids would go home once summer came to a close.

Sooner or later, Camille would have to say goodbye.

* * *

The sky had grown dark by the time she was finished with clean up. Both the stage and audience seating practically sparkled in the moonlight. Everything was probably cleaner than it had been, honestly, ever. Camille, however, wasn’t so polished. Looking down at herself, she could see that her clothes were covered in … could it be considered tomato juice at this point? Shaking her head, she gathered everything to return to the Quartermaster store.

Camille actually ran into the man as she got close to the mess hall. True to his word, he had done his best to not frighten her for as long as she was at the camp. Sad as it was, he was one of the few people she’d had no renege on their agreement. A low bar to clear.

“Gimme that and git,” he commanded, reaching out for the cleaning supplies.

After a long day, she was quick to give in to his demands. She watched as he entered his store, letting the door slam behind him. A chuckle slipped past her lips. Two weeks and she still didn’t understand the older man anymore than she had that first morning.

In a strange way, it was kind of endearing.

Everything about Camp Campbell was.

* * *

Camille quietly crept into the cabin, doing her best to not wake Gwen. She’d even gone so far as to take her boots off to keep the old floorboards from creaking. Boots in one hand, she slowly pulled the door shut until – _ Click! _ Turning, she looked around the cabin only to see everything blanketed in darkness. Looking out the window, she couldn’t even see the trees outside. If she hadn’t known better, she might’ve thought that Gwen had bought black out curtains.

“Clouds must’ve covered the moon,” she whispered, accidentally voicing her thoughts.

Carefully, she tiptoed to the other end of the room, free hand outstretched as a means to keep her from running into anything. Silently, she sighed in relief when she felt her hand hit the foot of the wooden bedframe. Crouching down, she crawled to the side of the bed. Setting her shoes aside, she pulled her suitcase out from under the frame. As much as she wanted to shower, she wasn’t about to risk taking one in the dead of night. A change of clothes would have to suffice until morning.

It felt so good to peel her probably ruined shirt off. The way it had clung to her skin alone was incredibly uncomfortable. Eyes finally adjusting to the darkness, she looked behind her to see Gwen’s dirty clothes basket. Spinning around, she stood back up. Without taking a step forward, Camille balled the shirt up and tossed it in the direction of the basket. Her arms shot above her head at her success. The pants followed soon after.

“She shoots, she scores,” she whispered, more playful this time.

Laughing soundlessly at herself, she went to turn back around. Only, she felt her heart stop when she caught sight of the bed. Someone was sleeping on it. Holding a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming, she quickly reached down with the other and snatched one of her boots. Raising the boot over her head, she inched forward to get a better look.

Due to them sleeping on top of the covers, she could see their general shape. They were thin, a bit on the lanky side. Her eyes scanned them from their feet up, assessing if they would pose an immediate threat if they woke up. In the dark there wasn’t much she could make out. She didn’t see anything that looked like it might be a weapon. Relaxing some, she stepped over her suitcase to get closer to where their head was supposed to be. Lowering her improvised weapon, she leaned in to try and get a better look.

The clouds finally drifted away from the moon, allowing pale light to fill the cabin. Finally, she could actually see this person, and she was surprised.

It was a man, but that wasn’t what shocked her. No, it was the vague sense of familiarity she got while looking at his face. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but it was as if she’d seen the man before. There was even a small part of her brain that told her he looked cute. She pushed the thought to the back of her mind. Her eyes trailed down to his clothes. Leaves for a shirt and some sort of stitched leather for pants. An odd combination, and it certainly wasn’t a fashion statement. Holding her gaze on what looked to be a makeshift splint, she didn’t notice the man beginning to stir.

However, once he was awake, she was made very aware of that fact. Then again, Camille couldn’t exactly drown out the screaming that filled the previously silent cabin. Her eyes darted back over to his face, also screaming. Him suddenly screaming had startled her. For a brief moment, he was silent as he took in a deep breath. At first, he seemed as if he might be calming down, but then she noticed his eyes trail downwards. His face flushed as he began screaming again, covering his eyes with his hands. Not thinking things through, she clenched her eyes shut and gave a wide swing with her boot.

Contact had been made. She’d felt it. The silence that returned only confirmed it for her. Did she even hit him hard enough to do any damage? Had she only succeeded in making him mad? Was he still awake? Opening one eye, she looked down, afraid of what she was to find.

No, the man was not still awake. He was very much unconscious. She was relieved, but also felt bad. Wanting to check on him, she dropped the boot and leaned over the bed.

“Cammie,” called out a very drowsy Gwen.

Gasping, she whipped her head around to look over at her friend.

“Cammie, where are your clothes? And why does David look like a rugged, mountain man?”

David? Camille took a second to glance down at the man on the bed. That was David? With that in mind, she could see it now. The nose, the hair, all of it.

And she knocked him out.

She knocked him out!

If she had been feeling guilt before, there wasn’t a name that existed to label the practically crippling feeling of wrong that was now consuming her. But she couldn’t afford to focus on that just yet.

“Gwen, this is all just a dream,” she said softly, praying to whatever deity out there that would let this work.

“This is so going in my dream journal when I wake up.”

With that, Gwen rolled over and went to sleep. Camille’s knees felt weak. That had been too close for comfort. If Gwen had fully woken up, she and David would’ve felt the anxious woman’s wrath. She’d learned long ago that Gwen is to not be disturbed from her slumber. Letting out the breath she didn’t know she was holding, she let herself sit on the edge of the bed. Her heart and mind had not been prepared to deal with something like this tonight.

The sound of faint mumbling brought her out of her thoughts. Right, David.

Just like that she was drowning in guilt again.

* * *

Apparently, Camille had hit David harder than she thought. She tried shaking him, jostling him, even talking to him. None of it woke him up. He was out like a light. If she hadn’t already probably given him a concussion, she might’ve been willing to try and slap him awake. Having exhausted all options readily available, she opted to attempt to make him comfortable. Well, as comfortable as one can be while they’re knocked out.

Not wanting to cross any boundaries, Camille didn’t mess with his clothes. She did, however, remove his shoes, being careful not to move his hurt leg too much. Camille made sure to glance at his face for any sign of consciousness or discomfort after each additional article she took away. In her remorse, she even took it a step further and gently pulled the comforter out from under him before tucking him in.

Standing back, she looked over her handiwork. Despite having been hit in the head with a boot, David looked pretty peaceful. Smiling, she crossed her arms over her chest. Blinking, she glanced down at herself and came to a realization.

Oh, right. Clothes. She needed those.

* * *

After getting dressed, Camille had gone to her car to try and spend the night there. However, she was restless. She groaned, returning her seat to it’s usual upright position. Her guilt was eating at her, not allowing her to fall asleep. Not that she could blame her subconscious for that. While she had been well within her right to be terrified of suddenly finding a stranger inside her temporary lodging, sound logic was losing the fight against her more compassionate side.

“Good job, Camille,” she chastised herself.

A man that had been missing for weeks finally returned. The same man that she had made flyers for. She’d even gone so far as filing a missing person’s report. She did everything that she was capable of to let it be known that he was missing and people were looking for him. All that work she put in was now thrown in the trash because she went and knocked him out with her boot.

“Some first impression I made.”

Running her hands down her face, Camille thought over what she was going to do. Apologize, for one. Although, she wasn’t sure that a simple apology would suffice. Not for her end, anyway. From the stories she’d heard, David didn’t seem like one to hold a grudge. In fact, he sounded like a very forgiving person. This knowledge only served to make her feel worse than she already did. Which she wasn’t sure was possible.

Sighing, Camille stepped out of her car. She needed to focus on something else, and sleep just wasn’t an option.

* * *

With nothing else to do in the middle of the night, Camille had decided to clean inside the mess hall. As much as she hated cleaning, it was better than sitting in her car and letting her thoughts get to her. She’d just hoped that the lights being on wouldn’t catch anyone’s attention.

Even if someone noticed, no one had made an attempt to disturb her.

Several hours had passed this way. Starting in the kitchen, she worked her way from back to front. All the dishes had been washed, including the ones that were supposed to already be clean. She even went through both the pantry and fridge, clearing up any messes and throwing away things that were expired. Out of everything, the easiest was wiping down the stovetop and counters. Even the sink itself received a quick clean after she finished the dishes. The only thing she didn’t mess with was the walls and baseboards.

Wanting to save mopping for last, she moved out to the dining area to wipe down the tables. Her eyes felt heavy. The intense cleaning she gave the kitchen was starting to catch up to her. Maybe she could make herself some coffee. Although, if she did that she’d just have more dishes. Legs growing weary, she took a seat, planning to only rest her legs for a moment. Camille continued to run the rag over the table, but her motions had grown sluggish.

She’d only intended to blink, but her eyes stayed closed.

* * *

“Ugh, what time is it,” Cameron muttered to himself.

Wincing from the light of his phone, he groaned at the realization that it was five in the morning. He was awake earlier than Davey normally would be, and that man rose with the sun. How could anyone stand to be up this early? As much as he would prefer to go back to sleep, there was a dryness in his throat that he couldn’t ignore. Sighing, he forced himself to get out of bed. Just as he was about to climb down the attic ladder, he recalled something Camille had told him.

“Don’t walk around camp in your underwear, Cameron. There are children, Cameron. You don’t want to be a registered offender, Cameron,” he mocked.

Despite rolling his eyes at the notion, he found himself getting dressed anyway. He cursed the woman’s influence on him, but there was a small smile on his face. Fully clothed and, unfortunately, fully awake, Cameron eased himself down the ladder and into the mess hall dining area. He was surprised to find that all of the lights were on, having fully expected to navigate through the darkness to the kitchen. It didn’t take him long to find the cause.

His eyes softened as they landed on Camille’s sleeping form. She was sitting, slumped over on a table, a cleaning rag held loosely in one hand. There was no way that that was comfortable. Even if it was, her neck and back were going to be feeling it when she woke up. Taking off his vest, he rolled it up and carefully placed it under Camille’s head. Satisfied, he headed into the kitchen.

“I’ve done my ‘genuine good deed’ for the day. Time for some coffee!”

* * *

The scent of freshly brewed coffee pulled Camille from her dreamless slumber. Her back felt incredibly stiff, making sitting up a bit of a struggle. Ignoring the protest of her joints, she stretched in her seat. Relief washed over her at the sound and feeling of her spine popping in multiple places. Sighing, she stood up, not noticing the cloth bundle that hadn’t been there the night before. She had to step lightly, ankles sore from the prolonged inactivity.

Yawning, she made her way into the kitchen, not paying much attention to her surroundings. She walked over to the coffee pot and poured herself a cup, running on autopilot. Hearing the shuffling of another person in the room, she muttered a good morning while rummaging in the fridge for cream.

“Sugar?”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

A minute passed before her brain finished processing who had spoken. Her surprise was evident on her face as she turned around to see none other than Cameron Campbell getting sugar out of the cupboard. There was something different about the man. Something  _ other _ than him being uncharacteristically helpful. Something physical. Squinting her eyes at him, she looked him over as he turned around with the sugar. Then, it hit her.

“Thanks. Where’s your vest at,” she asked while taking the sugar from him.

Sipping on his own coffee, he just gestured back towards the dining area. Looking through the window, she noticed one of the tables had a cloth bundle resting atop it. A bundle that was the same color as Cameron’s vest. Actually, it was on the same table that she had found herself sleeping on. Putting the pieces together had been easy, even with the less than satisfying sleep she’d gotten. Unsure about how to take the act of kindness from the typically selfish man, she chose to finish preparing her coffee in silence.

“Why were you in here instead of the counselors’ cabin?”

So much for silence.

“Well, David came back last night. Can’t blame the guy for sleeping in his own bed.”

Cameron seemed surprised at her response, which made sense. A man that had been missing for weeks suddenly comes back in the night. It raised questions, for sure. 

“Oh, I see. So, where does that leave you?”

Camille hadn’t picked up on his tone, too focused on his question. With David back, where  _ did _ that leave her? Her whole reason for staying at the camp was because the man was gone. Her presence wasn’t really necessary anymore. Looking down at her coffee, she couldn’t see the slight look of concern on Cameron’s face.

“I should get started on breakfast. Could you go wake the campers?”

Respecting her lack of an answer, he instead chose to begin whining about her asking him to work. His groaning pulled a small chuckle from her as she began taking out ingredients for pancakes.

“Would you rather do the cooking?”

“Absolutely not,” he answered immediately.

Once he was out of sight, Camille rested her elbows on the counter and buried her face in her hands. A part of her debated leaving now, but she knew that she couldn’t do that. She couldn’t bring herself to leave without a proper goodbye. In the weeks she’d been there, she’d grown attached to everyone. Even Cameron had weaseled his way into a small, vacant corner in her heart.

Laughing at herself, she stood upright and began to prepare the batter.

“You knew this day was coming, Camille.”

But that didn’t make it any less painful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!
> 
> As you've just read, David is officially back at the camp! I repeat, David is back!


	13. The Last Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With David back, it’s the beginning of the end for Camille’s time at Camp Campbell. She puts her best foot forward, but David seems unsure of how to act around her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so this chapter is really, really, REALLY late. Sorry about that. I've FINALLY returned to work! While that's good for me, it's kinda bad for this fic. Don't worry, I'm not abandoning it! My posting schedule is just going to become rather infrequent as my work schedule won't always be accommodating to the posting schedule I had initially put in place.

Just as the last of the pancakes were plated, the mess hall doors opened. Camille smiled at the sound of the campers’ morning chatter. She wanted to ask Cameron what had taken him so long, but she held her tongue. It didn’t really matter.

Quartermaster was already at the window, handing the kids their breakfast. She hadn’t even heard or seen him come in. He’d practically appeared out of thin air. She told herself not to question it. After refilling her mug, as well as pouring an extra cup, she went out to the dining area. Everyone started to talk with their mouths full when they noticed her. They all wanted to know what they were doing for the day.

“I’m sorry, but … that’s not really up to me anymore.”

“Uh, of course it is. You’re the boss,” Nurf retorted, a few of the other campers agreeing with him.

Camille pinched the bridge of her nose. This wasn’t how she envisioned this going. Not that she had really planned for this in the first place. She really should’ve thought ahead better.

“Well, that’s the thing. D-”

The sound of yelling outside interrupted her train of thought, causing her to forget what she was saying. Her eyebrows pulled together. Cameron was peering out one of the windows. Motioning for the kids to stay seated, she walked over to stand at his side. She tried to look around him to see what was going on outside, but his large frame fully blocked the window from her view.

“Cameron, what’s going on out-”

Another interruption came in the form of the mess hall doors being thrown open. Everyone turned to see who entered. It was David. His eyes were wide and frantic as he locked his gaze on Cameron.

“Mr. Campbell! I can’t find any of the-”

“David’s back,” Space Kid yelled.

“-campers?”

David looked around the room. Everyone but Gwen was present and accounted for. He seemed to struggle with the fact that the campers, as well as Cameron, were all up before him. Not to mention that everyone was sitting still and eating. It was a far cry from the chaos he had grown accustomed to. His stammering proof of his confusion.

“Come on, Davey. Have a seat. Camille made pancakes,” Cameron said as he pushed David further into the room.

“Well, I do enjoy pancakes! Wait, who’s Camille?”

Clearing her throat, Camille made her presence known. When his eyes met hers, his face grew flushed and he pulled his lips tight. Her heart sank into her stomach. He remembered last night. Just her luck. With a nervous chuckle, she raised her hand and gave a small wave.

Suddenly, she wasn’t feeling so hungry anymore.

* * *

Breakfast wound up being far more awkward than Camille had hoped. According to David, Gwen was still asleep, and Cameron had fled from the mess hall. As for Quartermaster? Well, no one was really sure where he had run off to. Which left only Camille and David to watch over the kids. She couldn’t just leave him to fend for himself. He had just gotten back the night before, and he was still hurt. The kids would chew him up and spit him out in an instant.

Camille peeked over at him. He was holding the leftover syrup out of Space Kid’s reach. Still didn’t stop the small boy from trying to jump for it. She couldn’t hold back her giggle at the sight. Hearing her, David glanced in her direction. For a moment, their eyes met. Blinking, she broke the contact. Standing up, she walked into the kitchen. Grabbing a clean mug, she poured some coffee. Steaming cup in hand, she reentered the dining area and walked up to David.

“Would you mind going and waking up Gwen? You can bribe her with this,” she stated, offering the coffee for him to take.

Fortunately for her, he was glad to accept the coffee and wake up his co-counselor. Although, even after he left, she couldn’t stop thinking about the look on his face. It was the first time he’d smiled at her all morning. She’d seen it in pictures. Both from the missing posters she’d made, as well as what was pinned to the memory board on his side of the counselors’ cabin. Still, there was something different about seeing it in person.

Shaking her head, she turned to face the campers. They began to talk all at once. Sighing, she raised up her hands. Thankfully, they understood her silent plea for them to settle down.

“Let’s address the elephant in the room. David is back.”

“There isn’t an elephant in the room,” Nikki interjected, voice laced with disappointment.

“Nikki, Sweetie, it’s a-nevermind. Point is, David’s back in, which means I’m out.”

And everyone was back to talking at the same time. Pinching the bridge of her nose, Camille could feel a headache beginning to form from the onslaught of noise. Nurf took notice and was quick to lend a hand.

“Quiet,” he yelled out, his volume causing Camille to wince slightly.

“Thank you, Nurf. Now, I don’t know if David is going to let me stay.”

She ran her hands down her face. What little energy she’d gotten from her sleep was quickly being sucked out of her. And that was only physical. Her mental energy hadn’t been replenished in the slightest. Was this how Gwen always felt? God, this sucked.

“This camp belongs to David  _ and _ Gwen. They both get a say, but I’m not too sure David wants to keep around the woman that knocked him out with her boot.”

Oh no. She hadn’t meant to say that out loud. All the campers had a laugh at her expense, as well as David’s.

“You knocked him out? That’s the funniest shit I’ve ever heard,” Max managed to spit out around his laughter.

“Yes, I did! The guilt kept me up all night! I still feel really bad about it, Max. So, I’d really appreciate it if we didn’t focus on that right now,” she snapped.

Yelling. She’d resorted to yelling. This was quickly becoming a train wreck.

“Sorry. Look, maybe I can convince Gwen to take a day off to give me an extra day. Would you guys be happy with that?”

None of the kids really seemed happy at the prospect of only one more day, but they were willing to take it if it was the best they were going to get.

* * *

Gwen had instantly jumped at the chance to take a day off. She hadn’t had one in weeks, and her sanity was wearing thin. Camille and David watched as Gwen drove away in the camp-mobile. The dirt that got kicked up caused the two of them to cough. Waving her hand to clear the air near her face, she turned back toward the camp.

Her eyes grew wide as she saw the bus coming in hot. Thinking fast, she grabbed David before pulling him with her to the side. He let out a shriek from being pulled. Still holding him, she watched the bus disappear in a bigger cloud of dirt. There went the Quartermaster. Now it really was just her and David. Remembering that she was holding him, she leapt back.

“Um, are you alright?”

While waiting for an answer, she watched as he just stared down at her, blinking. Her eyebrows knit together. He had seemed to be functioning alright earlier. Maybe she really had given him a concussion. She began to reach out to him, but thought better of it. Clenching her fist, she let her hand fall back to her side.

“David?”

“Hm? Oh! Yes, I’m just dandy! Thank you for that!”

“You sure you’re alright? How’s, um, your head?”

David looked confused about her question. Though, she watched as he quickly recalled the significance of it.

“Right, my head. It’s fine. I’m fine.”

Camille chewed on her lip, not really believing him. Although, she didn’t feel comfortable pushing the matter. Looking to the ground, she saw a rock near her foot. She started to push it around.

“I’m really sorry about that, by the way. About … all of last night, actually.”

“Oh, don’t worry about it! It’s okay, r-”

“But it’s not! David, I-”

Her words got stuck in her throat when she looked up at him. David was giving her a soft smile. It caught her off guard. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. She returned his smile, nodding when he suggested they return to the kids. Then, she remembered something.

“Actually, David, do you think you’d be alright without me for a little bit?”

She needed a shower, for one. Secondly, she had to let her parents know that she was going to be coming home soon.

* * *

A shower and fresh clothes had been just the thing that Camille had needed. Feeling much more awake, she left the counselors’ cabin to head toward the mess hall. Opening the door, she took a quick peek inside. Empty. Were they still at the lake? Seeing as that was her best bet, she turned and headed to the docks.

As she got closer, she could see David and the campers standing around on the shore. She picked up her pace, jogging up to them. Raising a hand, she waved to get David’s attention. He smiled at her and waved back, which caught her off guard. She’d grown accustomed to receiving a middle finger from Gwen. In her distraction, she didn’t notice a decently sized rock lying in her path. Due to her carelessness, her foot caught on it, and she found herself face first in the dirt.

“Oh my goodness, are you okay,” David cried out as he rushed to her side.

Sputtering, Camille pushed herself up onto her knees. She noticed David holding his hand out, an offer to help her up. Smiling, she gently pushed his hand away, muttering her appreciation for the kind gesture. Standing up, she brushed the dirt off her knees and hands. Now back on her feet, she stepped around David to look at the campers.

“Camille,” a few of them called as they charged toward her.

Laughing, she welcomed them with open arms. David had to physically step back. Not only to keep from getting bowled over, but also because of how shocked he was. It was the most excitement he’d seen on the campers’ faces since they’d successfully gotten the camp back from Camp Corp. The sight was making him a little misty eyed.

“You’re still here,” Max’s small voice cut through, full of disbelief and a hint of something else.

“Yeah, looks like you kids are stuck with me for one more day.”

* * *

Considering it was her last day with them, Camille should’ve expected most of the campers to be vying for her attention. But that thought hadn’t occurred to her.

“Camille, check out this new illusion I’ve been perfecting!”

“Camille, I learned a new incantation! Wanna see?”

“Camille, look at this space rock I found!”

“Camille, are you ever going to teach me to speak bear?”

At some point, she started to zone out. The poor sleep she’d gotten was finally catching up with her. David had asked if she was alright, but she assured him that she was fine. If she was able to get through finals week on only four hours of sleep total, she could get through a single day. He did insist that she take a moment to sit down, and she found that she didn’t have the energy to fight him on it.

So, she’d taken a seat under a tree not far from David and the campers. She wanted to be able to jump in if he needed help. The bark of the tree was rough against her back, but it was fairly easy to overlook. It was uncomfortable, sure, but it was bearable for the few minutes she would be sitting there. Eyelids feeling heavy, she blinked rapidly to try to stay awake. She had to stay awake.

In an effort to keep her thoughts from sleep, she looked up at the tree she was leaning against. Even before looking at the branches, she’d known that it was a pine tree. While she hadn’t paid much mind to the tree when she sat under it, the scent was what tipped her off. Pine was a strong, easily recognizable scent. Closing her eyes, she took in a deep breath through her nose.

Just like that, she was out.

* * *

Camille felt herself being lightly nudged. She grumbled, waving her hand at whatever it was that was moving her. Some vaguely familiar laughs could be heard around her, but she paid them no mind. She needed her sleep, and was determined to get it.

Her eyes snapped open. She’d fallen asleep. That wasn’t supposed to happen.

“Welcome back to the land of the living,” came what could only be Max’s trademark sarcasm.

“Max.”

And there was David.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep,” she muttered, standing up.

Too quick. She’d gotten up too quick, and now darkness was creeping in on her peripherals. David reached out to stabilize her before she could crumple to the ground. Having a small laugh at herself, she shook her head.

“Guess that makes us even,” she whispered to David with a playful wink.

At first, he seemed confused by her statement, not understanding what she was talking about. The wink made his confusion worse, and caused a faint blush to appear on his cheeks.

“Ya know, cause the, uh, bus,” she added, hoping to jog his memory.

“Oh, right! That! Yes,” he agreed, blush growing darker in his embarrassment.

“What happened with the bus,” Max inquired, bringing their attention to him.

“Who’s ready for lunch,” Camille asked, effectively changing the subject.

* * *

The day carried on with some semblance of normalcy until dinner. Quartermaster had returned in time to make dinner for the campers, but Gwen was still out for the day. Not that Camille had expected anything less from the woman.

Since she allowed David to get his food first, she sat and kept an eye on the kids. Having not actually eaten breakfast, it felt as if her stomach was trying to eat itself. Waiting for David to return, she started chewing on her bottom lip. She was starving and anxious. Camille was aware that she and David were on better terms than they started off on, but there was a small, nagging voice she couldn’t disregard.

“Here we go! I took the liberty of getting your food, too!”

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that, David. Thank you.”

A tray full of mashed potatoes. How predictable. Regardless, it was better than nothing. Unable to wait another moment more, she picked up her spoon and dug in. Having managed to avoid eating Quartermaster’s so called specialty, she was pleasantly surprised. The potatoes weren’t half bad. Camille wouldn’t exactly call them good, but they were decent. Focused on eating, she didn’t notice David watching as she practically shoveled the mashed potatoes into her mouth. 

“Hey, Camille,” Nurf interjected.

To say that Nurf’s sudden appearance surprised her would be an understatement. That is, if her choking on mashed potatoes was a good indication. David jumped up from his seat, ready to give her the heimlich. Before he could advance, she waved for him to sit back down with one hand while she coughed into the other. Instead of returning to his seat, he ran off to the kitchen to get her a cup of water.

When he returned, she took the cup as soon as it was within reach. With the cup now empty, she grimaced and turned to face Nurf. He looked like he felt bad about causing her to nearly die. She couldn’t be too mad at the boy.

“I’m so sorry, Camille. Scaring you was not my intention.”

Yeah, he felt bad.

“Nurf, Sweetie, just what is it you need me for?”

“I wanted to give you something since you’re leaving,” he informed, reaching his hand into his pocket.

That was unexpected. He also actually looked like he was being sincere.

“Oh, you didn’t have to-”

Camille stopped speaking once she saw him pull out a knife. Was he really giving her a knife? Yes, a child was giving her a knife.

“You  _ really _ didn’t have to.”

“I want you to take this to remember me by,” Nurf insisted, sniffling as he grabbed her hand and placed the knife in it.

It seemed that he wasn’t going to give up on her taking the knife. Giving the boy a smile, she nodded and carefully put the knife in her pocket. As strange as it felt accepting a knife from a child, it was probably the sweetest gesture she was ever going to get from the boy.

“Thank you, Nurf. I’ll treasure it, always,” she said, and she meant it.

In the background, David watched the two. His eyes were tearing up. He fanned his face with his hands. After blinking the tears away, he looked around to see the other campers finishing up their potatoes.

  
  
  
“When you’re all done eating, we’re going to have a campfire,” David announced, not letting the resounding groans dampen his spirit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, and thanks for being patient! I can't guarantee when I'm going to put the next chapter up, but I'm going to shoot for one a week! So, it's more so what day it goes up that I can't say for certain.


End file.
